The best cars in history.

The history of the motor vehicle and the history of Mercedes-Benz have been intertwined since 1886, when Carl Benz created a three-wheeled machine that established the basic concept of the automobile. Over the 140 years since, Mercedes-Benz has repeatedly and reliably used new models to introduce ideas that have spread far beyond the three-pointed star.

Some vehicles became famous because of their beauty or performance. Others are among the best cars in history because an innovation beneath their bodywork changed the industry.

Here are 11 of the most memorable and iconic cars from Mercedes-Benz.

Benz Patent Motor Car (1886)

This is where the automobile story begins. Rather than fitting an engine to an existing horse-drawn carriage, Carl Benz designed the vehicle as an integrated machine. Its 0.55kW single-cylinder engine, lightweight chassis and three-wheel configuration created what became recognised as the world’s first automobile. The patent for this “vehicle with gas engine operation” is now included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.

This invention demonstrated that individual mobility could exist independently of the horse. When Carl’s wife, Bertha Benz, took the vehicle on a pioneering long-distance journey in 1888 (unbeknownst to her husband), it showed that the automobile was more than just a technical curiosity – it was a practical mode of transport.

Key innovations: Purpose-designed motor-vehicle chassis; compact four-stroke combustion engine; integrated drivetrain.

Mercedes 35 hp (1900)

If the Patent Motor Car invented the automobile, the Mercedes 35 hp helped to establish the architecture of the modern car. Designed by Wilhelm Maybach at the request of businessman Emil Jellinek, it abandoned the tall, carriage-like proportions of early vehicles for a long wheelbase, wide track and low centre of gravity.

Its performance at the 1901 Nice Race Week was emphatic, and its basic proportions became a blueprint for subsequent automobiles. The Mercedes-Simplex models that followed further developed the idea.

Key innovations: Low-mounted engine; long wheelbase and wide track; powerful 35 hp engine with a honeycomb radiator.

Mercedes-Benz SSK (1928)

The Mercedes-Benz SSK represented the emergence of the supercharged Mercedes-Benz as both an elite road car and formidable competition machine. Its lineage included the S, SS, SSK and racing-focused SSKL.

Supercharging became closely associated with high-performance Mercedes-Benz cars of the period. Competition success reinforced the connection – at the renowned Gabelbach hillclimb in 1928, the SSK was victorious and set a course record. Later, in the SSKL, Rudolf Caracciola became the first non-Italian to win overall in the famed Mille Miglia in 1931.

Key innovations: Supercharged engine; short-wheelbase sports chassis; competition-derived engineering.

Mercedes-Benz 500 K (1934)

The Mercedes-Benz 500 K unlocked a new dimension of performance – speed combined with extraordinary elegance and craftsmanship.

Models like the 500 K Special Roadster helped establish a formula that’s still relevant to Mercedes-Benz today: engineering and performance, wrapped in distinctive, opulent design. At the time, many buyers specified factory-built Sindelfingen bodies, and surviving examples are now among the era’s most recognisable collector cars.

Key innovations: Supercharged eight-cylinder engine; bespoke-style Sindelfingen coachwork; sophisticated chassis engineering.

Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Gullwing’ (1954)

Few contenders for the title of ‘coolest car in history’ are as easy to identify as the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL.

Born from the W 194 racing car that marked the return by Mercedes-Benz to motorsport in 1952, the production 300 SL brought competition technology to public roads. Its tubular spaceframe provided exceptional strength at low weight, but its high side structures made conventional doors impractical – hence the roof-hinged ‘gullwing’ doors that became its signature. 

The Gullwing helped establish the idea of the technology-first road-going ‘supercar’, decades before the term became commonplace. Its combination of competition pedigree, performance and extraordinary design made it an enduring Mercedes-Benz icon.

Key innovations: Tubular spaceframe; first four-stroke production car with direct fuel injection; lightweight racing-derived construction.

Mercedes-Benz ‘Fintail’ (1959)

The Mercedes-Benz W 111 Fintail looked distinctive, but its greatest contribution was largely invisible.

Engineer Béla Barényi's safety-body concept divided the structure into a sturdy passenger cell and energy-absorbing deformation zones at the front and rear. The principle fundamentally changed passive vehicle safety. Instead of making an entire car as rigid as possible, selected sections could deform to absorb crash energy while protecting occupants. Mercedes-Benz also began systematic crash testing and scientifically based accident research around the Fintail’s introduction.

Key innovations: Front and rear crumple zones; safety-led body engineering.

Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Grand Mercedes’ (1963)

The Mercedes-Benz 600 (AKA, the ‘Grand Mercedes’) approached luxury differently. Instead of simply adding more trim, the car was engineered to make demanding functions virtually effortless.

The complex high-pressure hydraulic system of the Grand Mercedes operated equipment including sliding windows, adjustable seats and an adjustable steering wheel with exceptional smoothness. It also introduced the first V8 used in a Mercedes-Benz limousine.

The Grand Mercedes became the transportation of choice for heads of state, royalty, business leaders and entertainers around the world, making the large Mercedes limousine an enduring international icon.

Key innovations: Sophisticated comfort-hydraulic system; V8 power; limousine-scale luxury engineering.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class (1972)

The W 116 was the first vehicle Mercedes-Benz officially called S-Class, but the significance went well beyond its badge.

Its crowning technical achievement arrived in 1978, when the W 116 became the first production car to offer a digital, electronically controlled anti-lock braking system (ABS) developed with Bosch. ABS allowed a driver to retain steering control under heavy braking instead of locking the wheels.

ABS became a foundation technology for later electronic stability and driver assistance systems. The W 116 also established the S-Class as the technological flagship for Mercedes-Benz.

Key innovations: Electronic ABS; safety-focused body engineering.

Mercedes-Benz G-Class (1979)

Few cars have evolved as dramatically as the G-Class, while remaining so true to their basic concept.

The original G-model combined serious off-road capability with everyday road manners. Initially appealing strongly to professional and military users, it progressively moved upmarket without abandoning its ladder-frame and go-anywhere character.

The G-Class demonstrated that an uncompromising off-roader could evolve into a global icon without losing its identity. More than four decades later, its iconic silhouette remains immediately recognisable.

Key innovations: Rugged body-on-frame construction; sophisticated four-wheel-drive capability; combination of off-road ability and road-going ease.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class W 126 (1979)

If the W 116 established the S-Class formula, the Mercedes-Benz W 126 strengthened its reputation as an incubator for safety technology.

The W 126 was engineered with offset collisions specifically in mind. More significantly, in 1981, the S-Class brought the driver’s airbag alongside a seatbelt tensioner for the front passenger.

The airbag would eventually become one of the fundamental components of driver and passenger protection, gradually becoming standard equipment across the wider industry.

Key innovations: Advanced crash structure; production driver’s airbag; seatbelt tensioner.

Mercedes-Benz A-Class (1997)

The original Mercedes-Benz W 168 A-Class earns its place in this list for two very different reasons.

Its innovative sandwich-floor construction placed parts of the drivetrain beneath the passenger compartment, allowing an unusually spacious and adaptable cabin within a very short footprint while contributing to crash protection.

Then came the infamous Swedish “moose test”. After an A-Class overturned during testing in 1997, Mercedes-Benz suspended deliveries, revised the chassis and fitted Electronic Stability Program technology as standard. Cars already delivered were upgraded.

What began as a setback accelerated the widespread use of electronic stability control. Mercedes-Benz subsequently expanded ESP across the range, and the technology became commonplace throughout the industry.

Key innovations: Sandwich-floor architecture; highly space-efficient packaging; standard ESP.

Mercedes-Benz CLS (2004)

Innovation takes many forms. Advances in design and body shape can have an impact just as profound as the latest technologyNot every important innovation requires new mechanical technology. Sometimes changing the shape of a car is enough.

The first-generation Mercedes-Benz C 219 CLS combined four doors and saloon-car usability with a low roofline and coupé-like profile. The concept proved influential. Rival manufacturers subsequently produced their own variations on the four-door coupé, turning what had been an unusual proposition into an established premium category. As with earlier models, the CLS provided significant impetus for the body style across the industry.

Key innovations: Coupé-influenced four-door body; frameless-door styling; combination of sporting design and saloon comfort.

A track record of innovation

What connects these famous cars isn’t one particular engine layout, body style or era. The Patent Motor Car’s significance came from creating an entirely new form of transportation. The 300 SL transferred racing technology to the road. The Fintail, W 116 and W 126 changed thinking about safety, while the G-Class and CLS created new-model templates that remain influential today.

There were plenty of other landmarks along the way – including the 190 E of 1982, the R 129 SL of 1989 and the W 140 S-Class, which introduced the first series-production V12 for Mercedes-Benz and debuted ESP in its S 600 Coupé in 1995.

That makes the 140-year timeline of Mercedes-Benz more than a collection of the best cars in its history. It is also a condensed history of the motor car itself: from simply making an automobile move, to making it faster, safer, more comfortable, more capable and – as technology accelerates – more intelligent.

Find out more about the 140-year timeline of Mercedes-Benz innovation.