| 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. 
| 
Merecedes
Benz 