When Karl Benz registered his “vehicle with gas-engine drive” under patent number 37435 with the Berlin Patent Office in 1886 little could he have known how successful his firm would become and the industry that it would launch. Daimler AG celebrate the 125th anniversary of the modern autombile on January 29 – the exact day that Herr Benz filed his patent in 1886.
Dr Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, emphasised the importance of the automobile: “The invention of Daimler and Benz has changed the world for the better – and it will continue to do so. History shows that when a society becomes physically mobile it also becomes socially mobile and economically successful.” At the same time, Dr Zetsche focused on the future, “as the inventor of the automobile, Daimler strives to be at the forefront of shaping future mobility.”
As part of the celebrations the company launched the Mercedes-Benz F-CELL World Drive. Three B-Class models with fuel-cell drive are to travel around the world in 125 days. The event was symbolically started by German chancellor Angela Merkel and Mercedes-Benz grand prix drivers, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and former Formula One driver David Coulthard
The Mercedes-Benz design team has also designed the Aesthetics 125 sculpture. Aesthetics 125 provides an outlook on the future design language of Mercedes-Benz. It combines elements of an automobile’s interior and exterior by means of sweeping, almost soaring, shape transitions.
The model was made by the Mercedes designers using the innovative rapid-prototyping technology, which enables digital data to be transferred directly to a design object. The technology works with various materials and applies them in fine layers so that no waste material is produced when a sculpture is created.
