1903 Mercedes Simplex 18/22 Tourer

In 1900, Emil Jellinek, a wealthy entrepreneur and distributor for the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft Company, commissioned a series of revolutionary DMG sports cars, which he named after his eleven-year-old daughter Mercedes. He obtained the exclusive dealership rights for the new car in France, Austria, Hungary, Belgium and the United States, and he registered the Mercedes trademark in 1902. Now recognized as the first 'modern' automobile, the Mercedes Simplex, so-called on account of the vehicle's easy handling, was built up to 1909. Three large-capacity engine models were offered in the first year before the smaller 3-liter Mercedes Simplex 18/22 was launched in 1903. The Simplex name disappeared from Mercedes automobiles in 1905. This car is the oldest of three 18/22 Tourers known to survive in the world from the original 232 built in 1903, and it was recently restored before it was displayed at the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.