1986

21 January 1986
Daimler-Benz founds Mercedes-Benz Japan Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary, which takes over as general distributor for all Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Japan in early 1987.

29 January - 6 February 1986
At the "Mobile World" anniversary exhibition to mark the 100th anniversary of the automobile, Daimler-Benz presents not only the history but also the future of the automobile. On display are some 50 research and development projects, among them the design study for the sub-compact NAFA city car, realised in 1981. The first venue for this exhibition series is Stuttgart's Killesberg.

1 February 1986
After a conversion period of eleven months, the Daimler-Benz Museum, modernised for the anniversary activities, opens its doors with enlarged exhibition space and a new concept.

3 - 8 February 1986
In Rovaniemi, Finland, Daimler-Benz presents important elements of vehicle safety through a series of road tests: the ASR (acceleration skid control) dynamic handling system for passenger cars and commercial vehicles, the automatic locking differential (ASD) and the automatically engaging four-wheel drive system (4MATIC), available for passenger cars.

2 March 1986
The first 6-km section of the world’s largest O-Bahn system is officially inaugurated in Adelaide, Australia. The system comprises twelve lines on which 92 track-guided buses, among them 51 articulated pusher buses, serve the city's northern suburbs, reaching speeds of up to 100 km/h.

17 - 22 March 1986
A new Mercedes-Benz large-capacity van is presented to the international press in Rome. The newly developed series, internally designated T 2 or LN 1, comprises models 507 D - 811 D with permissible gross weights from 3.5 to 7.5 tonnes.

9 - 16 April 1986
At the Hanover Trade Fair Daimler-Benz presents the powertrain of the new O 405 GTD duo bus with a combination of diesel engine and electric motor, as well as components for an experimental passenger car – based on the 230 E – for operation on pure hydrogen.

16 April 1986
SG Stern Deutschland is established in Stuttgart. It serves as the umbrella organisation for sports clubs at the various locations of Daimler-Benz AG.

April 1986
Delivery of the first chassis for ambulance and estate bodies marks for Mercedes-Benz the expansion of its sales range in the intermediate 124 series. The chassis with partial bodies, offered with both regular and long wheelbases (F 124 and VF 124), are for the first time derived not from the saloon but from the estate and produced at the Bremen plant.

10 - 14 June 1986
At the "transport ‘86” in Munich, an international trade fair for transport technology, the O 405 T trolley bus makes its debut. Like the O 405 GTD duo bus, it features a novel electrical propulsion system that was jointly developed with Dornier and AEG.

29 June 1986
The record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic, established in 1952 by the luxury liner United States and awarded the Blue Ribband for this achievement, is broken by British businessman Richard Branson. His Virgin Atlantic Challenger is powered by two MTU 12-cylinder engines from the 396 series with 1,441 kW / 1,960 hp each and covers the 5,500 km distance from New York to the Bishop Rock lighthouse near the Isles of Scilly, UK, in 3 days, 8 hours and 31 minutes.

25 July 1986
Three-and-a-half years after the start of large-scale production at the Untertürkheim sub-plant Mettingen, the one-millionth multi-link independent suspension is assembled. At this point in time, the patented rear axle developed by Daimler-Benz is installed in all passenger car models in the 201 and 124 series.

24 August 1986
The Sauber-Mercedes C 8 scores its first racing victory in the ADAC-Kouros 1,000-km race on the Nürburgring. This also marks the first victory of a Group C racing sports car of the Swiss Sauber Team. The racing sports car driven by Henri Pescarolo and Mike Thackwell is fitted with a Mercedes-Benz V8 bi-turbo engine based on the 5-litre M 117 production engine.

1 September 1986
Mercedes-Benz offers all petrol-engined passenger car models with three-way catalytic converters as standard; the "catalyst retrofit" versions continue to be offered as an optional extra – with an appropriate price reduction – until August 1989.

September 1986
Production of the O 405 GTD duo bus starts at the Mannheim plant. Along with a 177 kW / 240 hp or 206 kW / 280 hp diesel engine mounted at the rear, the innovative articulated pusher regular service bus features an electric drive system with 220 kW / 299 hp fed via trolley arm from overhead cables. The first 18 vehicles go into service with the O-Bahn in Essen.

1 October 1986
The PROMETHEUS research project ("Programme for a European Transport System of Highest Efficiency and Unrivalled Safety"), initiated by Daimler-Benz and aimed at outlining new perspectives for the traffic of the future, is launched as part of the European EUREKA research initiative in which 14 European automotive manufacturers participate.

11 October 1986
The Turkish affiliate OTOMARSAN opens a new assembly plant for Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles on a 500,000 sq m site in Nidge, Aksaray, 240 km south of Ankara. It is planned to build trucks, the Unimog and diesel engines at the new production site.

10 November 1986
The "Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation" established by Daimler-Benz AG begins its work with a meeting of the foundation's Board of Trustees and a ceremony at Ladenburg City Hall. The non-profit foundation, based in the Benz House in Ladenburg and endowed with initial capital of DM 50 million, will devote itself to the interrelations between humans, the environment and technology by promoting science and research and thus helping to shape and secure a future that ensures human dignity.

11 November 1986
The first remanufactured car engine comes off the production line at the Berlin-Marienfelde plant. By October 1987 the production of remanufactured engines has been transferred step by step to Berlin from the Untertürkheim sub-plant Brühl.

November 1986
After the completion of the second stage, the TOPAS (tank vehicle with optimised passive and active safety features) project is demonstrated at the Contidrom in Jeversen in the Lüneburg Heath.

November 1986
The publication of the documentary report "Daimler-Benz AG in the Years 1933 - 1945" is an important contribution towards coming to terms with the history of Daimler-Benz during the National Socialist regime.