August

After finishing fourth in the British Grand Prix in Silverstone on 17 July, Juan Manuel Fangio wins the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.The Argentinean follows this up with victories in the Swiss Grand Prix on 22 August and the Italian Grand Prix in Monza on 5 September. Fangio can already celebrate winning the Formula One World Championship crown by a huge margin after the penultimate race of the season.

More than 18 years after the start of series production, the 237,287th and last R 107-series Mercedes-Benz SL rolls off the assembly line at the Sindelfingen plant. The landmark vehicle is a signal-red 500 SL, which is transferred to the collection of the Mercedes-Benz Museum.

Benz & Cie. submits its new trademark to the Imperial Patent Office. It shows the name Benz inside a stylised laurel wreath and is officially registered as a trademark on 10 October 1910.

The 250,000th Mercedes-Benz passenger car with petrol injection engine leaves the production line at the plant in Sindelfingen. The landmark vehicle is a 280 SE from the W 108 series.

DaimlerChrysler sells its 10.5 % share in Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) for around € 740 million. The disposal of the shares is part of the restructuring of the strategic alliance between DaimlerChrysler and Hyundai Motor already announced in May.

The Swiss Grand Prix at the Bremgarten circuit near Bern ends in a triple triumph for Mercedes-Benz: Hermann Lang wins, followed by Rudolf Caracciola and Manfred von Brauchitsch, ending the season as the most successful driver.

In Elgin, Illinois/USA, Ralph DePalma wins the Chicago Automobile Club Trophy and the Elgin National Trophy. His racing car is a 4.5 litre Grand Prix Mercedes acquired from DMG after the triple victory in Lyon in July 1914.

In Los Angeles, California/USA, a Dodge Sprinter with fuel cell drive begins practical testing in everyday commercial service with United Parcel Service (UPS). The Sprinter uses compressed hydrogen and has a range of about 250 kilometres.

The Semmering hillclimb, starting in Schottwien, Austria, is held for the first time. Initially a club outing and not an official race, it soon becomes one of the most important motoring events. Emil Jellinek posts the fastest time in the motor car category, driving a 16 hp Daimler Phoenix.

In the presence of Berlin's governing mayor, Klaus Wowereit, a 3,740 sq m photovoltaic system is officially inaugurated on the roof of one of the production halls at the Mercedes-Benz Berlin-Marienfelde plant. The largest continuous stretch of solar roofing in Berlin, it is capable of generating around 430,000 kWh of energy a year.

The Mercedes DF 100 (D I) aeroengine goes into large-scale production at DMG. The 100 hp / 74 kW six-cylinder is an advanced version of the DF 80 used in the 1913 competition for the Imperial Prize. Production of the D II with 120 hp / 88 kW and the D III with 160 hp / 118 kW also starts by the end of the year. The two six-cylinders derived from the DF 100 were designed by DMG for the second Imperial Prize, which is cancelled because of the outbreak of war.

The facelifted Mercedes-Benz CLK Coupé and Convertible models (208 series) of 2000 are unveiled with a more extensive package of standard equipment. In addition, the updated range includes two new models – the CLK 430 Convertible and CLK 55 AMG Coupé models. All CLK-Class, C-Class (202 series) and SL-Class (R 129 series) variants now come with the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) as standard.