If you were able to make it to this year’s Pebble Beach Automotive Week looking for the usual lineup of multimillion-dollar exotics and coachbuilt hypercars, Mercedes-Benz had so much more to offer. We gave a preview of what to expect last week. Well, now that the dust has finally settled, we wanted to do a quick recap of everything that the three-pointed star had in store.
Their headline act? A 1910 Benz Prinz-Heinrich-Wagen that led the Tour d’Elegance, restored by the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center. It packs a 5.7-liter four-cylinder with four-valve tech, dual ignition, and a cardan drive, features that were groundbreaking in 1910. Where most cars at the time still struggled with reliability, this Benz was built for long-distance competition in the Prinz-Heinrich-Fahrt, one of Europe’s earliest endurance rallies.
It appeared parked up next to a privately owned 1914 Mercedes Grand Prix car, highlighting a time when Daimler and Benz were still rivals before eventually merging in 1926. For all its engineering might, the Prinz-Heinrich took home the Charles A. Chayne Trophy, an award given since 1987 to the most technologically advanced car of its era.
Mercedes already has ten “Best of Show” wins at Pebble, so adding another high-profile honor strengthens its dominance here. Finally, Mercedes-Benz Heritage CEO Marcus Breitschwerdt himself took the wheel for the 62-mile tour, where it was joined by a Mercedes-Maybach SL 680 Monogram Series.
Also, just like at Goodwood this year, at Sunday’s Concours d’Elegance, the German marque also leaned into the 75th anniversary of Formula 1, where they had Fangio’s legendary 1954-55 W 196 R Formula 1 car sitting next to today’s AMG F1 W16 driven by George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. That is 70 years of Formula 1 evolution, innovation, and engineering represented in a single frame.
At Laguna Seca, a 1955 W 196 R and the legendary 300 SLR, yes, the very car that Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson used to blitz the Mille Miglia in record time, shared the track with an equally exotic roofless V8 2009 SLR McLaren Stirling Moss.
But Pebble Beach isn’t just about the past because Mercedes also rolled out the low-slung 1,341-horsepower CONCEPT AMG GT XX, which we saw back in June. A design study, it previews the brand’s next generation of high-performance EVs. The futuristic Vision V people carrier concept, making its American debut, and the ultra-exclusive Maybach S 680 “Emerald Isle” (only 25 units for the U.S.) were also on display.
Finally, there was the “Stargaze Theatre,” Mercedes’ pop-up drive-in showcasing its biggest film cameos in history, where you had a chance to take a close look at cars like the Jurassic Park M-Class, the Beverly Hills Cop 380 SL, and even the battered 220 SE from The Hangover.
Mercedes also showcased its latest Hollywood stint by displaying the Brad Pitt starrer F1 The Movie: APXGP movie prop car alongside the AMG GT 63 “APXGP Edition”, one of just 52 units built with the film’s livery. This was a reminder of how Mercedes is deeply woven into pop culture, bringing a spectacular variety of automobiles and an action-packed weekend to a close.
Source: Mercedes-Benz
