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A
GERMAN CAR NAMED by an Austro-Hungarian in France, and with a girl's
name at that! Mercedes is a Spanish name. It means "mercies,"
but the sleek powerful speedsters have never shown any mercy, singular
or plural, toward a competitor on the race course. The delicate female
name has, since the turn of the century, graced the radiators of a
series of cars whose thunderous power and precision handling dominated
the tracks of the world. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, from Ireland
through England and into Italy, at home in Germany, the Mercedes has
left a memory of sheer excellence. The car belies the ingenuous simplicity
of its name. Flashing speed and brutal power is all masculine. The
only thing feminine about a Mercedes is the name.
It all started with two different ideas from two different men
with two different cars.
Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz each created their own companies,
manufacturing their own cars. Their companies produced brilliant
automobiles as rivals for about 30 years, until economic ties caused
their two respectful companies to merge and create what today is
one of the greatest automobile in the world.

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