Mercedes-Benz Classic Notes 2/2026 highlights 140 years of innovation with historic milestones

In its 140th anniversary year, Mercedes-Benz publishes Classic Notes 2/2026 from Stuttgart, highlighting selected milestones from the company's innovation, product, and corporate history. The brand says it has continuously set standards since 1886 and accompanied social change. Further data, stories, and photos are available in the M@RS multimedia archive and research system. The edition covers four anniversaries plus the 120th birthday of engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut.

According to the notes, the Universal was based on the W 111 upper-class sedan and offered generous cargo space for leisure and commercial use. Mercedes-Benz did not build it itself; the Belgian coachbuilder IMA in Liège produced it, and it remained in the programme until 1968. The company describes the model as a forerunner of the T-Models, which premiered in 1977 in the 123 series. 'Universal' versions were also built for the 'Heckflosse' sedans with four-cylinder engines (W 110) in the 200 D, 200, and 230 types. IMA-built estates technically differed from the sedans by using 15-inch wheels instead of 13-inch, increasing ground clearance.

At the IAA in Frankfurt from 11 to 23 September 2001, Mercedes-Benz celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Mercedes brand under the motto 'The Story of Passion'. The S 63 AMG lang (V 220) and CL 63 AMG (C 215) led the new models with the AMG-developed 6.3-litre V12 engine M 137 delivering 326 kW (444 hp). Before the 2002 S 65 lang and CL 65 with a 6-litre V12 turbo engine (450 kW/612 hp), these were the top motorizations of the S-Class and CL-Class. Also premiering were the G 270 CDI, a new entry model in the G-Class (463) with a 2.7-litre five-cylinder common-rail diesel (115 kW/156 hp), and the Vaneo compact van. The Vaneo used many A-Class components, had a 550 kg payload, and offered accessory packages called Surf, Snow, Bike, and Carry.

The Mercedes-Benz 300 S, presented at the Paris Motor Show from 4 to 14 October 1951, was offered as a Cabriolet A, Roadster, and Coupé. It was technically closely related to the Mercedes-Benz 300 (W 186) limousine but received its own series number W 188. The 110 kW (150 hp) 300 S was powered by a 3-litre inline-six M 188 with three Solex downdraft carburettors and higher compression, reaching a top speed of over 175 km/h. The company calls it an important door-opener on the US market in the early 1950s, a role taken over in 1954 by the 300 SL 'Gullwing' (W 198). The further-developed 300 Sc with the M 188 engine replaced the 300 S in 1955 (Coupé) and 1956 (Cabriolet and Roadster).

On 15 December 1926, Hanns Klemm (born 1885 in Stuttgart) took over aircraft construction at Daimler-Benz AG and founded Leichtflugzeugbau Klemm GmbH; the DMG aircraft tradition stretched back to 1915. Klemm had previously led the aircraft design office and later body construction at DMG in Sindelfingen. He initiated the Daimler L 15 in 1922 and the L 20 in 1924, which from 1925 used the air-cooled two-cylinder boxer engine F 7502 conceived by Ferdinand Porsche. An L 20 'Kamerad' is displayed in the Mercedes-Benz Museum, and the type gained fame when Friedrich Freiherr von Koenig-Warthausen began a world flight in it in August 1928, finishing on 22 November 1929. The notes also mark Rudolf Uhlenhaut's 120th birthday: born 15 July 1906 in London, he joined Mercedes-Benz testing in 1931, led the racing department from 1936, took over passenger car testing in 1949, and later headed passenger car development, retiring in 1972. Uhlenhaut considered the construction of a production car more demanding than that of a racing car, and the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR 'Uhlenhaut-Coupé' (W 196 S) — the world's most valuable car — bears his name.

Mercedes-Benz says it is celebrating '140 Years of Innovation' by sending three new S-Class limousines on a transcontinental journey to 140 destinations worldwide, with each place highlighting the brand's technology, heritage, pioneering spirit, and global presence. The company traces its innovation from the first automobile in 1886 to its current largest model offensive. The journey lasts until October, spans six continents, and customers, fans, and colleagues are invited to take part; it can be followed in the '140 Years. 140 Places' media special and in the Mercedes-Benz Community.