The hundreds of brilliant color photographs in this volume illustrate the fine attention to line and elegant detail that marks a Mercedes. The company has been making motoring history and important contributions in the fields of engineering, design, and motor sports since 1886. This large and lavish book charts the history of the company, tracks its racing record, and provides a detailed catalog of Mercedes automobiles, from the diminutive, purely functional Benz Patent-Motorwagen of 1886 to the long, low "limousine-coupй" introduced in 2004 as the CLS series. Here are such classic and well-loved vehicles as the Mercedes Simplex of 1902, the outstanding S through SSKL series of racers introduced in 1927, the unforgettable 300 SL Gullwing and Roadster of the 1950s, Mercedes' many brilliant racing cars of the last few decades, and the dramatic, outrageously luxurious Maybach of 2002. The text is in English, German, and French.