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Museum & History

Celebratory evening event.

“We are pleased to be this year’s host of the renowned ‘Goldener Klassiker’ prize here at the Mercedes-Benz Museum,” says Christian Boucke, head of Mercedes-Benz Classic, on the presentation of the awards at a celebratory evening event on Thursday, 11 October 2018, with around 150 invited guests. “We are, of course, very proud that the readers of ‘Auto Bild Klassik’ have bestowed us with a double win this year,” continues Boucke.

The presentation of the awards took place at a celebratory evening event in the Mercedes-Benz Museum.

Natanael Sijanta accepted the “Goldener Klassiker” award for the “/8” saloon from Christian Steiger and Wolfgang Berghofer.

The Mercedes-Benz “/8” saloons of the W 115 and W 114 model series celebrate their 50th birthday in 2018.

A podium finish.

In two out of a total of twelve categories the brand from Stuttgart was at the top in the reader’s surveys. Amongst the saloons, the W 115 and W 114 “/8” model series, introduced in 1968, were voted as the 2018 classics of the year. Amongst the off-road vehicles, the victor was the first Unimog from 1948, the U 25 of the 70200 model series. A podium finish was also achieved by the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 (W 109) from 1968, which was voted to second place in the saloons category.

This year’s winners.

The “Auto Bild Klassik” specialist magazine has been awarding the “Goldener Klassiker” since 2010. That makes this year’s ceremony in the Mercedes-Benz Museum the ninth gala of this kind. The “classic of the year” was chosen from a total of 50 vehicles with an anniversary of their first sale in 2018.

These are this year’s winners in the twelve categories:

  • Small cars and compacts: Opel Corsa A
  • Saloons: Mercedes-Benz “/8” W 115 / W 114
  • Sports cars and coupés: Opel GT
  • Cabriolets and roadsters: Porsche 356 Cabriolet
  • Off-road vehicles: Unimog U 25 of the 70200 model series
  • Classics of the future – technology: McLaren Senna
  • Classics of the future – driving pleasure: Porsche 911 GT3 RS (991.2)
  • Classics of the future – design: Aston Martin DB11 Volante
  • Innovation of the year: Replacement parts from a 3D printer
  • Discovery of the year: The compressor BMW
  • Restoration of the year: The 57th Porsche 901 / 911
  • Person of the year: Siegfried Rauch
Group picture of all winners at the “Goldener Klassiker” by Auto Bild Klassik.

Gala event: Group picture of all winners at the “Goldener Klassiker” by Auto Bild Klassik.

In 2018, the Unimog U 25 of the 70200 model series, presented in September 1948, became the classic of the year in the off-road vehicle category of the “Goldener Klassiker”.

Original Unimog: In 2018, the Unimog U 25 of the 70200 model series, presented in September 1948, became the classic of the year.

A particularly important role.

The eight winning vehicles were lined up outside the Mercedes-Benz Museum for the award ceremony, in which a Mercedes-Benz 230.4 of the W 115 model series played a particularly important role. After all, this “/8” saloon not only represented the “Goldener Klassiker” in its category, but also the main prize of this year’s reader prize campaign by “Auto Bild Klassik”, provided by Mercedes-Benz Classic. The vehicle built in 1976 with a blue paint finish was handed over to the lucky winner Marco Kolbe.

Mercedes-Benz “/8”.

The saloons of the 115 and 114 model series introduced in 1968 form the first stand-alone generation of the luxury executive class of Mercedes-Benz. The “/8” abbreviation in the internal company model designation initially only stood for the year of its introduction. Later, however, this developed into the loving “stroke 8” designation for the entire model series. Alongside the saloon, the coupé and the saloon with a long wheelbase are also available. An estate model is also developed, but not built as a production vehicle. There were also chassis as a basis for various superstructures, including a pickup.

The saloons also served as a basis for experimental safety vehicles (ESF), with which Mercedes-Benz researched future solutions of vehicle safety. The body of the W 115 / W 114 is balanced and linear, even though it seems compact compared to the current luxury class. The universal body had previously not allowed such an autonomous design. The four-cylinder models are comprised in the 115 model series, the six-cylinder models in the 114 model series. From the many models and body variants, more than 1.9 million vehicles are created over nine years.

Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 25 of the 70200 model series.

Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 25 of the 70200 model series.

After its introduction in 1948 at the first DLG exhibition (German Agricultural Society) in Frankfurt am Main, the series production of the Unimog 1949 begins in the Gebr. Boehringer GmbH machine tool factory in Göppingen. By the autumn of 1950, 600 vehicles are built by the all-rounder for agriculture, forestry and municipal services. Every U 25 is equipped with the Mercedes-Benz OM 636 diesel engine as well as the independently developed six-gear manual transmission and transfer case. During a dam project in the Valais Alps the Swiss Army discover the agility and extreme off-road capability of the Unimog. It issues an order of 250 vehicles in an “agricultural version”, which are used as pipeline construction vehicles and are given the nickname “Dieseli”. In May 1951, Daimler-Benz completely takes over the Unimog sector. On 3 June 1951, the first, almost unchanged vehicles roll off the production line at the Gaggenau plant, which receive the series number 2010 from Mercedes-Benz.

Image gallery.

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Product may vary after press date on 22.10.2018.

1 Die angegebenen Werte wurden nach dem vorgeschriebenen Messverfahren ermittelt. Es handelt sich um die „NEFZ-CO₂-Werte“ i. S. v. Art. 2 Nr. 1 Durchführungsverordnung (EU) 2017/1153. Die Kraftstoffverbrauchswerte wurden auf Basis dieser Werte errechnet. Der Stromverbrauch wurde auf der Grundlage der VO 692/2008/EG ermittelt. Weitere Informationen zum offiziellen Kraftstoffverbrauch und den offiziellen spezifischen CO₂-Emissionen neuer Personenkraftwagen können dem „Leitfaden über den Kraftstoffverbrauch, die CO₂-Emissionen und den Stromverbrauch aller neuen Personenkraftwagenmodelle“ entnommen werden, der an allen Verkaufsstellen und bei der Deutschen Automobil Treuhand GmbH unter www.dat.de unentgeltlich erhältlich ist.

2 Die angegebenen Werte sind die „gemessenen NEFZ-CO₂-Werte“ i. S. v. Art. 2 Nr. 2 Durchführungsverordnung (EU) 2017/1153, die im Einklang mit Anhang XII der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 692/2008 ermittelt wurden. Die Kraftstoffverbrauchswerte wurden auf Basis dieser Werte errechnet. Der Stromverbrauch wurde auf der Grundlage der VO 692/2008/EG ermittelt. Aufgrund gesetzlicher Änderungen der maßgeblichen Prüfverfahren können in der für die Fahrzeugzulassung und ggf. Kfz-Steuer maßgeblichen Übereinstimmungsbescheinigung des Fahrzeugs höhere Werte eingetragen sein. Weitere Informationen zum offiziellen Kraftstoffverbrauch und den offiziellen spezifischen CO₂-Emissionen neuer Personenkraftwagen können dem „Leitfaden über den Kraftstoffverbrauch und die CO₂-Emissionen neuer Personenkraftwagen“ entnommen werden, der an allen Verkaufsstellen und bei der Deutschen Automobil Treuhand GmbH unter www.dat.de unentgeltlich erhältlich ist.

4 Angaben zu Kraftstoffverbrauch, Stromverbrauch und CO₂-Emissionen sind vorläufig und wurden vom Technischen Dienst für das Zertifizierungsverfahren nach Maßgabe des WLTP-Prüfverfahrens ermittelt und in NEFZ-Werte korreliert. Eine EG-Typgenehmigung und Konformitätsbescheinigung mit amtlichen Werten liegen noch nicht vor. Abweichungen zwischen den Angaben und den amtlichen Werten sind möglich.

6 Stromverbrauch und Reichweite wurden auf der Grundlage der VO 692/2008/EG ermittelt. Stromverbrauch und Reichweite sind abhängig von der Fahrzeugkonfiguration. Weitere Informationen zum offiziellen Kraftstoffverbrauch und den offiziellen spezifischen CO₂-Emissionen neuer Personenkraftwagen können dem „Leitfaden über den Kraftstoffverbrauch, die CO₂-Emissionen und den Stromverbrauch aller neuen Personenkraftwagenmodelle“ entnommen werden, der an allen Verkaufsstellen und bei der Deutschen Automobil Treuhand GmbH unter www.dat.de unentgeltlich erhältlich ist.