Engine: DOHC V12, 48 valves 5987cc
Fuel system: Bosch LH-Jetronic Electronic fuel infection
Power output: 408bhp @ 5200rpm
Max speed: 165mph
Acceleration 0-60 mph: 6.0 sec
Weight: 2250 Kg

Mercedes really are the grandaddy of all car companies - originally founded by the inventor of the petrol engine, Karl Benz, in 1871 as Benz & Cie, it sold it's first car in 1888. They were closely followed by the inventor of what is commonly accepted to be the forerunner of the modern petrol engine - Gottlieb Daimler and his partner Wilhelm Maybach. Their company was called Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft and they sold their first car in 1891. By 1899 Daimler has started to race, and one of their most succcesful racers was Emil Jellinek. For good luck, he used to paint the name of his daughter on the side of his race car - Mercedes. After Daimler died in 1900, Jellinek obtained the distribution rights for Daimler cars in France, Austria, Hungary, Belgium and the USA. He placed an order for some 36 cars but only if they were to be named 'Mercedes' after his race car! As the Daimler company had sold the rights to the Daimler name in other countries such as France and the UK (hence Jaguar Daimler) the use of the name 'Mercedes' wasn't merely a whim, but necessary to stop legal wrangling in those territories.

Postwar Germany suffered many economic hardships, and in order to survive the rival Benz and Daimler companies merged in 1926. The new company was called Daimler-Benz AG, and took it's logo from both the laurel wreath of Benz, and the 3 pointed star dreamt up by Gottlieb Daimler to show the suitability of his motors for use on land, air, and sea use. In 1923 Benz entered their first GP, and after the rise to power of the Nazi party Adolf Hitler decided that a successful German racing team would show the might of German engineering prowess. He gave DB (and Auto Union) state subsidies to produce the all-conquering Silver Arrows. Although the traditional racing colour for Germany was white, the paint was stripped off to safve weight, hence 'silver' arrows! As Hitler had intended, these cars did win everything in the 30's, including speed records of 270+mph! During the war DB was central to Germany's war effort, especially for the Luftwaffe, but they did exploit forced labour. Some 30,000 workers were used this way, and when they protested, they were sent to concentration camps....

It wasn't until the 50's that Mercedes starting to function properly after the war and they started to put their experience building Messerschmitt engines to good use. They were the first to use desmodronic valves (separate cam to close valves instead of spring, now used mainly by Ducati) and fuel injection (now used on all cars) both in the 1954 W196 F1 car. This was hugely successful in the 50's until Pierre Levegh's Mercedes Le Mans car somersaulted into the crowd in the 1955 race, killing over 80 spectators, as well as Levegh. As a result of this Mercedes withdrew from racing until the 90's. They concentrated on building road cars, and came up with some of the most innovative cars of the 50's and 60's - safety cells, crumple zones, ABS, Airbags, belt tensioners - all things seen on every modern car, were Mercedes innovations. In a magnanimous gesture, MB also made all these available to other manufacturers without licence! Combined with bullet proof engineering, the name Mercedes Benz became synonymous with engineering excellence and reliability.

The S-class is a name now retrospectively applied to the biggest, and most luxurious Mercedes cars. And of those, the biggest and most luxurious is the 600SEL. Housing the first V12 built by Mercedes since it's Messerschmitt days, this car truly was MB making a statement. With double-pane window glazing, self-closing doors and boot lid, electric windows which lowered back down when encountering an obstruction, rear-parking markers which appeared on the rear wings and a heating system which emitted warm air even after the engine was turned off, it is a car that is generally accepted to be the last of the truly overengineered Mercedes. Costing over £90,000 in 1991 (the equivalent of 3 2-bed flats in Marchmont) this car was the preserve of the uber-rich. Although relatively subtle and discreet, and despite being bigger than the Bentley Turbo R in each of the 3 dimensions, it is faster to 60 than a Honda S2000 and has a comparable top speed to the Maserati 3200GT.... It's quite a car. Make sure your gold card is topped up to pay for petrol though!

Weekday points: 5; Weekend day points: 10.