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Article: Oldtimer Mercedes-Benz truly scored in U.S. with 300SL Gullwing.(The 100-Year Almanac and 1996 Market Data Book)
- Article from:
- Automotive News
- Article date:
- April 29, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Mercedes-Benz, the world's oldest automaker, was in the United States for almost a decade before the American industry got its start.
In 1888, piano manufacturer William Steinway became the American representative of Daimler Motor Co., just two years after Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz almost simultaneously built the world's first successful automobiles.
That 1888 deal was made long before a factory in Long Island City, N.Y., produced the "American Mercedes" under license from the German maker from 1905-07, certainly the first foreign auto made in America. The U.S. producer was Daimler Manufacturing Co., which succeeded Steinway's Daimler Motor Co. after ...