Mercedes Museum

Stuttgart is the manufacturing birthplace of two super car brands: Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. So it makes sense that the city has a museum featuring each of the manufacturers. I have no interest in Porsche, but I am a Lewis Hamilton and Formula One (F1) fan, so I was happy to spend an afternoon at the Mercedes museum.

This blog presented a problem, though. I literally took hundreds of photos on the day. So I had to go through the batch and winnow it down to a more manageable amount. While Mercedes cars are often quite pretty, this blog didn't need to be a mile long!

The museum in all its modern-architecture glory. It's nine levels high and runs in

chronological order from the top. You work your way around each floor, and then walk

down a circle ramp to the next level. It's all very orderly.

A statue of Juan Manuel Fangio, a five-time World Champion F1 driver who dominated the sport during the 1950s. He stands next to his 1954 Mercedes Benz W196R Silberpfeil. As I suspected, silberpfeil is German for silver arrow, which remains the name of the Mercedes F1 cars.

You know you're not in just any museum here.

Time for a very brief Mercedes history lesson. Gottlieb Daimler set up a workshop in his

greenhouse in 1882 to develop four-stroke petrol engines. In 1884, Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach developed an internal combustion engine known today as the Grandfather Clock.

This marked the birth of what would become today's Mercedes-Benz.

This is a replica of the Daimler riding car. It was an early test vehicle for the Grandfather Clock.

Not only was it the first gasoline-powered engined vehicle, it was also the first motorcycle.

Talk about killing two birds with one stone!

This beauty is a 1908 Mercedes 75 PS Doppelphaeton. It was the first production model to be built with a six-cylinder engine. It was a top-of-the-line model and was offered in a variety of body styles. This one is an open tourer (phaeton) with two rows of seats, hence it's name. Doppel means double.

This is a 1902 forty horsepower Mercedes-Simplex 40S. It is the oldest Mercedes still in existence. It was called a Simplex because of the relative ease with which it handled.

This is a 1969 short-nosed Mercedes-Benz LO 1112 built in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

It was the custom of private bus companies in Argentina to decorate their busses with bright paint, lucky charms, mascots, and souvenirs to attract customers. What I particularly like is the Mercedes emblem is painted with the colors of the German flag: Red, gold, and black.

This 1907 Milnes-Daimler Doppeldeckerbus (double decker bus) saw service in London. From 1904 to 1907, England's capital bought four hundred of these beasts.

What a gorgeous car! This is a 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K Spezial-Roadster (Special Roadster). It was the car of the rich and beautiful. This model was the most expensive, equating to roughly €98,000 in today's money (that's nearly $107,000).

I can see why it was so expensive and popular. Just look at that snazzy styling!

This 540K came out the following year. It was more powerful than its predecessor and was also offered in a variety of body styles. This soft-top convertible (which they call a cabriolet in Europe) was by far the most popular model. I love the dual horns in the front. I assume those are horns.

I feel like some Chicagoland gangsters are about to leap out of this car, machine guns blasting.

This funky fellow is a reconstruction of a 1955 high-speed racing car transporter.

It was a one-of-a-kind model built by the Mercedes-Benz testing department.

Dubbed the Blue Wonder,it was used to transport the race cars at speeds up to 106 miles per hour.

This car won the World Championship for Sportscars in 1955. You'll note it says it was never beaten nor dropped out due to mechanical failures. If only they would build such a car for Lewis Hamilton!

I clearly have expensive tastes. All the cars I particularly like turn out to be the top-of-the-range models. Like this 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300S Cabriolet A.

A 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL coupe with gullwing doors. This was the dream car of the 1950s. The frame weighed only 110 pounds, yet was particularly sturdy. A great combination for speed. What's amusing is the iconic gullwings came about because the side panels couldn't fit a normal door.

You can even buy a Mercedes-Benz fire truck with rotating ladder!

Mercedes-Benz has been guaranteeing speedy first aid on F1 racetracks since 1998. The medical car is always the most powerful AMG version of the C-class station wagon. It has space for the driver, three doctors, and all of their emergency equipment. This car was used from 2001 through 2003.

The Popemobile!

This was built for Pope John Paul II for his visit to Germany in 1980 to protect him from wind and rain. After an assassination attempt in May 1981, the bodywork was furnished with bulletproof glazing. I am going to assume that the glass was beefed up, as well.

Princess Diana acquired this Mercedes-Benz 500 SL in December 1991. She became the first member of the British royal family to privately drive a foreign-made car. But criticism from the government, trade unions, and British industry forced her to return the vehicle in September 1992. I can't help but wonder if the fact that it was a German-made car, moreso than just being a foreign import, is what had everyone's knickers in a twist at the time.

Mercedes-Benz in the movies! This 1997 ML 320 helped the characters in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park sequel, Lost World, escape the rather hungry dinosaurs. It was built in the Tuscaloosa, AL, plant.

A Beatle car. This 1984 Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.3 AMG was owned by Ringo Starr.

As you prepare to leave each level, you can look down on the level below. We were finally coming to the final, and for me, the most anticipated section: Mercedes race cars. And there it was! A Mercedes Silver Arrow with Lewis's number (44) emblazoned on its nose. (bottom row, left) And above it (and slightly to the right) was a McLaren-Mercedes. McLaren was Lewis's original race team. But that car has a 22 on its nose, so it apparently belonged to Jenson Button, Lewis's teammate while with McLaren. Still, Jenson is a cool driver and I like him. Which is more than I can say for the teammate Lewis has now in Nico (I-think-I'm-great-but-it's-all-the-car) Rosberg.

Here's a zoom-in of #44.

And another I took as I came down the ramp.

A display of the race gear. Ignore the suit, it's Nico's. But that's Lewis's helmet.

Lewis won his second world championship with this Silver Arrow in 2014.

The steering wheel reminds me of a Playstation game controller.

As we were walking down to the display hall, Steve commented that the livery colors of the McLaren were too old to have the #22 on it. F1 instituted race driver numbers just a couple of years ago. I wasn't so sure, so I took a look at the info sign. Steve was right, the car was from 2008. As I told him, he said what I was thinking: Lewis won his first World Championship in 2008. Sure enough, it was the car in which Lewis won the World Championship! We have no idea why Jenson's driver number is on its nose. This was a Lewis car!