Late, Great Engineers: Gottlieb Daimler - automotive pioneer

While there can be no definitive statement as to who built the original automobile, there is a consensus supported by the Library of Congress that the first petrol-powered, four-wheeled, four-stroke engine ‘horseless carriage’ was brought into this world by Gottlieb Daimler. Whether or not the German engineer, designer and industrialist was beaten in the race to by his fellow countryman and automotive engineer Carl Benz is a matter of debate prompted mostly by what definition of ‘car’ is used. But what is beyond dispute is that these two great pioneers of the modern motor vehicle would become forever associated with each other when in June 1926 the world’s oldest motor manufacturers, Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG) and Benz & Cie., merged to create Daimler-Benz AG, the company behind the prestige marque Mercedes-Benz. The first part of this name has a somewhat convoluted origin, derived from the pseudonym – Mercédès – of Austrian racing driver Emil Jellinek (who competed in DMG cars), who had adopted the mononym in honour of his daughter.