This 1911 Mercedes Model 50 Touring Car was among the first Daimler cars to wear both the Mercedes name and the three-pointed star. The Mercedes name came about in 1900 when a French dealer named Emil Jellinek promised to order a large number of vehicles if Daimler would brand them Mercedes, a name Mr. Jellinek applied to most of his possessions, including his daughter. The star came along in 1910 when Paul Daimler, who took the helm of the company when Gottlieb died, was searching for a logo to represent the brand. Looking through an old family album he found a photo of the family home that had been inscribed by his father with a three-pointed star and an an inscription that read, "From this house a star shall rise that will bring great fortune to us and our children." (In its current pubs, Daimler has paraphrased those words, so old Gottlieb doesn't sound quite so greedy, but according to automotive historian, Beverly Rae Kimes, the original copy read as indicated above.)
In any case, by 1911, both Mercedes and the star were featured prominently on Daimler automobiles. This Model 50 Five Passenger, with bespoke coachwork by Maythorne & Sons, was purchased in London 57 years ago by Scott Isquick, who now resides in Pennsylvania. He and his wife are still enjoying it and have driven it about 65,000 miles over the years. Not bad for an old brass-era machine. The star and Mercedes: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=16218452 Mr. Isquick's Merc: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=16218532&size=lg -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
