Mercedes 35 HP

The Mercedes 35 HP is an automobile built in 1901 by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft to the specifications of businessman and diplomat Emil Jellinek, who commissioned a lighter, lower and more powerful car than the firm's existing models and had it named after his daughter Mercedes. Built with a lightweight pressed-steel frame, a honeycomb radiator and a low center of gravity that gave it far better handling and stability at speed than the high, boxy carriages typical of the era, it is widely regarded by automotive historians as the first genuinely modern automobile, establishing a basic layout, proportions and engineering approach that influenced car design for decades afterward, and it also gave its name to the Mercedes marque that Daimler continued to use.