1957

14 - 24 March 1957
The 300 SL Roadster (W 198), successor to the famous "Gullwing" coupé, celebrates its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show. The high-performance sports car is the first Mercedes-Benz car available with lap belts as optional extra.

11 April 1957
Under the terms of an agreement concluded by Daimler-Benz AG and Curtiss-Wright, Studebaker-Packard takes over responsibility for sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and diesel engines in the USA.

2 June 1957
In Fort Worth, Texas/USA, Paul O'Shea, two-time American Sports Car champion in class D, wins his first race in the 300 SLS, a weight-optimised racing sports car based on the 300 SL Roadster.

June 1957
The Mercedes-Benz L 321 goes into production at the Mannheim plant. The new truck with a payload of 5.5 tonnes is available as both a conventional and cab-over-engine model, in pickup, dump truck and semitrailer tractor variants. All-wheel drive is also an option.

June 1957
Three quarters of the Daimler-Benz share capital is held by major shareholders: the Flick Group holds 37.9 %, Deutsche Bank 25 %, and the Quandt Group 12.75 %.

June 1957
Mercedes-Benz passenger car models are delivered with a folding Mercedes star on the radiator grille to reduce the risk of injury in accidents.

19 - 29 September 1957
An improved product range is presented to the public at the Frankfurt International Motor Show. The key new additions include the 300 model with updated body and fuel-injection engine (internal designation 300 d, W 189). For the first time manifold injection is used instead of direct petrol injection found in the 300 SL. The 180 model debuts in an improved version (internal designation 180 a, W 120) powered by a 65 hp / 48 kW 1.9-litre engine. The 219 and 220 S models are presented with uprated engines and the optionally available Hydrak hydraulic-automatic clutch. The commercial vehicle portfolio is expanded to include the LP 321, LP 329 and LP 326 cab-over-engine truck variants. With the LP 321, meanwhile, Daimler-Benz offers a cab-over-engine truck in the medium-duty segment for the first time ex factory. Also celebrating its premiere is the new O 317 large-capacity bus with underfloor engine and air suspension, which capacity for up to 120 people. The fully enclosed variant of the Unimog (4

November 1957
The 20,000th Unimog diesel is delivered. Including the Unimog S, powered by a six-cylinder petrol engine, the company has now produced a total of 25,000 Unimog vehicles.

13 December 1957
The Sports Car Club of America publishes the official results of the National Sports Car Championship. For the third time in succession Paul O'Shea wins the American Sports Car Championship for Class D sports cars, this time in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLS.

31 December 1957
The foreign sales of Daimler-Benz AG increase by 21 % over the previous year to DM 745.5 million. Sales are handled by 184 general distributors and 1600 subdistributors in 136 countries. The USA becomes the most important export market for passenger cars, beating Sweden into second place.