Yesterday, April 6th, was quite a significant
date for Mercedes aficionados. Emil
Jellinek was born on April 6th, 1853 in Leipzig, Germany. Initially,
Emil was simply an entrepreneur who fell in love with Gottlieb Daimler and
Wilhelm Maybachs Phoenix Double-Phaeton, the hailed car of that time. As an entrepreneur,
Emil saw potential in the automobile enterprise and began ordering fleets of
DMGs cars to sell. He made large orders and became a popular salesman due to
his prompt acquisitions of vehicles that people were looking for, and normally would
have needed to wait extensively for.
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| Emil Jellinek driving his Pheonix Double-Phaeton |
Emil entered his own Phoenix armada in the French Rivieras
speed week, winning most of the competitions seamlessly, and yet he wasn’t satiated.
He sent back critiques of each of DMGs vehicles and sent them design ideas for
better cars. Daimler was displeased but his counterpart Maybach recognized the
validity of Emils critiques and eventually teamed up with Emil to design a
revolutionary car. Their car would be named Mercedes- after Emils 11 year old
daughter. On December 22, 1900, DMG delivered the first car equipped with the
new engine to Jellinek, a 35 horsepower racing car. This first Mercedes caused
a sensation as the new century began. With its low center of gravity, pressed
steel frame, lightweight yet powerful engine and honeycomb radiator it was
unlike anything the century had ever seen and is now acknowledged as the first
modern automobile. Emils appetite was assuredly satiated- considering the
Mercedes was the fastest car of its time.
Thus was the birth of a legendary car name. Since then,
Mercedes has continuously produced chart topping speed demons that are
sensational and innovative. Mercedes reigning innovation, the iconic Beast of
the Green Hell, is a 2016 AMG GT R named after the Nurburgring track it was
born and raised on. Yesterday, on Emils birthday, the Beast of the Green Hell set
a record lap of the Nurburgring- posting a lap time of seven minutes, 10.9
seconds.
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| The Beast |
Happy Belated Birthday, Emil!
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