Tribute to a brand

In 1926, two great car companies merged and Mercedes-Benz came into existence. Earlier, in 1924 Benz and Daimler had become one entity. Each of them had strong foundations in the field. Now they were flag bearers to the world of motor enthusiasts. This book is a tribute to the brand Mercedes-Benz, its tradition and excellence.
Excellence in any sphere is something to be admired and nurtured. The coming together of three gentlemen — Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach — in 1885 to produce the world’s first automobile driven by an internal combustion engine, fuelled by gasoline and evolving into Mercedes-Benz, exemplifies excellence, as does the evidence of toil and sweat author Adil Jal Darukhanawala must have expended in compiling this treat. He claims his journey commenced that day in August 1977 when he first started writing about cars and motorsports.
When this handsome coffee table book reached me, weighing over two-and-a-half kilos, it was difficult to find the space to open and read it. It is not a tome one can pursue lolling on the bed or even on an easychair. Nothing short of it being rested on a table would suffice for turning the pages.
The Foreword, by Lewis Hamilton, the current F1 World Champion racing for Mercedes-Benz, is in two parts. The first covers the days from 1885 to the present scene, with the main emphasis on racing. The second part is about Mercedes Benz’s presence in India.

Jawaharlal Nehru in a 300D when on an official visit to Germany in 1956

An important vignette is the origin of the three-pointed star and the name Mercedes. The former came from wanting to symbolize Daimler’s vision to develop engines for transportation over land, water and air. Like startups throughout history, Maybach and Daimler sought a financier. They found one in Emil Jellinck, a car enthusiast. Amongst the conditions Jellinck negotiated was to buy 36 vehicles from the duo, have sole selling rights in France, Belgium, Austria-Hungary and USA as also to name the vehicles after his 11-year old daughter, Mercedes.
An interesting statistic to emerge from the first part of the book dealing with racing projects in a nutshell is all that Mercedes-Benz stands for. Based on the rivalry it had with Auto Union in the 1930s the author goes on to describe the exciting event thus: "As Mercedes-Benz had asked for the speed runs they were obliged to start first and Auto Union could then respond if they wanted to. Rudolf Caracciola had a preliminary run at 8.00 a.m. and pronounced the conditions as ideal. He then went out and attacked the Class B records, setting new speeds that were both a record that stands till this day and also bittersweet. He first demolished the Class B flying kilometer record at 268.92mph/432.69km/h and then the flying mile at 268.75mph/432.42km/h! These are as yet the fastest speeds ever recorded on a public road and stand testimony to the times and the technology plus the bravery of all those involved… These speeds were beyond what Auto Union had set in 1937 and Bernd Rosemeyer decided to attack them there and then itself but the conditions had deteriorated and despite the advice of many, he went for it. His first run was done at 267.18 mph/429.90km/h and when he turned around for the return leg, a serious gust of wind blew the Auto Union streamliner off the road and into the trees. Rosemeyer was thrown off and killed on the spot. Auto Union, Germany and the Mercedes-Benz team had lost a great driver, hero and rival respectively.”
The history in India is covered in the latter 100 pages or so and might hold more interest for the non car-crazy reader. The first three cars believed to have ever come to India were the Oldsmobile Curved Dash (not a Benz or Daimler) and all three were not acquired by any royalty or state functionary but by Parsi families. The first was for the use of Jamsetji Tata, the second went to the Wadias and the third to the Cama family.

Adil Darukhanawala

However, much to the credit of Darukhanawala, he discovered to his amazement that a Benz Viktoria was ordered and shipped to Delhi (spelt Delhy in the register of Benz & Cie then) to finally an unknown recipient in the 1890s. Thus, the very first series produced automobile in the world, the Benz Viktoria, had the 85th vehicle from its production run come to India in 1897.
The fascinating story of Mercedes-Benz cars in India cases individual vehicles owned and so well-maintained over the years by car buffs that it is a wonderful treat to peruse and can easily put the allegorical car obsessed bawa to shame to see what has actually been done by true fans.
Though Mercedes-Benz sold transport vehicles since the 1930s in India, it was their joint venture commencing in 1954 with Tata which saw the transformation of commercial transport in the country. In spite of the dismal condition of our transport infrastructure then (and even now), these trucks and buses became prized possessions of their proud owners.
There is much to hold the interest of technicians, automobile engineers and historians while going through this book. Besides the very minor quibble of not having consistent spelling (the first name of Benz is spelt both as Carl and Karl), the text, photos, drawings, all make the reviewer say Darukhanawala has succeeded admirably in having done yeoman research and made this presentation of Mercedes-Benz truly a winner!