Car Craze

Traveling from his home in Nice, France, to purchase a car from the Daimler factory in Cannstatt, Germany, an Austrian businessman brought a sporting Daimler Phoenix and entered it into a local touring competition under the name of “Mercedes”. This specific car named after his then favorite 9-year old daughter caused such a sensation that he quickly realized its business potential.

Aside from placing an order for 36 more, he secured the franchise to sell them in different countries. Gottlieb Daimler, the car manufacturer, agreed to have them sold under the name “Mercedes”. On another part of Germany, another pioneer in the automotive industry, Karl Benz simply enclosed his name in a cogwheel which later became a laurel wreath. The merger of the Daimler and Benz companies resulted to the combination of the laurel wreath and the 3-pointed star trademark of Daimler and the car that has withstood the test of time – the Mercedes Benz.