Mercedes-Benz isn’t just a legendary luxury automaker—it’s the original automaker. Modern-day Mercedes can trace its roots back to the very first automobile, constructed in 1886. Since then, the company has been an innovator, a trendsetter, a racing juggernaut, and a global status symbol. Here’s everything you need to know about Mercedes-Benz, from the company’s earliest days to its latest and greatest vehicles.
The 35 HP was dominant in early racing, and ever since then, Daimler cars have all worn the Mercedes badge. Years before Ferdinand Porsche founded the legendary sports-car company that bears his name, he was a Daimler engineer. Porsche started his career in Austro-Daimler, an Austrian subsidiary of the German engine-maker, in 1906. In 1923, Porsche left the Austrian firm to become Daimler’s technical director at its headquarters in Stuttgart.