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Mercedes-Benz said it will feature a total of 11 vehicles spanning over 110 years of the brand’s history at the 29th edition of the specialist Techno Classica trade fair taking place in Essen, Germany, from April 5-9, 2017 promising that sportiness “brand gene” will meet service expertise at the show where the Mercedes-Benz brand clubs will also be strongly represented .
The Mercedes-Benz Classic stand at this year’s show, according to the luxury maker, will feature sporty vehicles ranging from the 40 hp Mercedes-Simplex from 1903 to the brand-new Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster Edition 50. Services and spare parts for classic vehicles are another thematic focal point. Here the brand with the star will be showcasing the full range of its service expertise. There will also be six ALL TIME STARS to see from the vehicle trading arm of Mercedes-Benz Classic. These include a 300 SL Roadster from 1957, which was factory-restored at Mercedes-Benz Classic.
The luxury car maker said the Mercedes-Benz Classic will be telling its story of the birth of the modern motor car in motorsport to the high art of refined sportiness at Techno Classica 2017 in Essen under the banner “Sportiness is in our genes”. Taking centre stage on the stand, which covers just under 3,600 square metres of space, will be vehicles from the company’s own collection along with the latest Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster Edition 50. The oldest vehicle being exhibited is the 40 hp Mercedes-Simplex, which dates from 1903. This model represents the first modern car and in its day dominated the prestigious racing scene on the French Riviera around Nice. Other exhibits include pioneering symbols of the compressor age – for example, the Mercedes-Benz model S (W 06) or the 540 K Streamliner (W 29) – and exceptionally sporty Mercedes-Benz models from the post-war period. Alongside exclusive production vehicles, the 300 SLR (W 196 S) known as the Uhlenhaut Coupé will also be on show.
The coupé is the enclosed variant of the tremendously successful 300 SLR sports racer from the 1955 season and marks the pinnacle of Mercedes-Benz’s domination of motorsport from the 1930s into the 1950s. Only two of them were ever built. Both are part of the company’s own vehicle collection and are now regarded as probably the most valuable motor vehicles in the world.
The youngest representatives in this portrait gallery of the brand’s sporting history are three vehicles bearing the acronym AMG in their names. Mercedes-AMG, the performance brand of Mercedes-Benz, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017. To celebrate this momentous occasion , there will be four special vehicles on the Classic stand. The most recent example is the brand-new Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster Edition 50 (C 190).
The 29th Techno Classica will take place at the Messe Essen exhibition centre in Germany. As the “World Show for Vintage, Classic and Prestige Automobiles, Motorsport, Motorcycles, Spare Parts, Restoration and World Club Meeting” it is the biggest event of its kind. Last year the event attracted more than 200,000 visitors from over 40 countries.
For 2017, more than 220 clubs and interest groups are expected to attend along with over 1250 exhibitors. There are set to be more than 2500 vehicles available for purchase. In total, there will be more than 25 automobile makes at the show. A special exhibition at Techno Classica 2017 is dedicated to the development of powertrain engineering over the past 135 years – with a special focus on electric drive systems.
According to the organisers, the high-quality exhibits include a Mercedes-Simplex from 1903. It symbolises the triumph of the combustion engine on the threshold of the 20th century. At that time, the spark-ignition engine, electric motor and steam engine were all still vying for supremacy as the power source for the motor car.
