1910 Mercedes 35PS Landaulette

• Rare Edwardian-era Mercedes
• Offered from a prominent private collection
• 49 years in single-family ownership
• Restored in the mid-1970s
• Recently recommissioned by Parkes Restorations

We have Emil Jellinek to thank for the existence of the 'Mercedes' marque. Jellinek, a wealthy Leipzig-born businessman, was an admirer of the cars of Gottlieb Daimler, and commissioned him to build a car that would surpass the 'top-heavy' designs of the late 1890s/early 1900s. Designed by Daimler's collaborator, Wilhelm Maybach, this 5.9-litre, 35hp model marked the watershed between the era of the 'horseless carriage' and that of the modern motor car. Advanced features included a pressed-steel chassis, aluminium cylinder block, 'honeycomb' radiator, atomising carburettor, and gate-change gearbox.

Starkly finished in purest white, Maybach's creation debuted at the Nice Speed Week in 1901. The car was owned by Baron Henri de Rothschild and driven by Wilhelm Werner, but had been entered by Jellinek under the pseudonym 'Mercedes', his daughter's name. (At this time Panhard-Levassor owner the sales rights to Daimler cars in France, hence the need for subterfuge!) Werner drove the Mercedes to victory in the Nice-Salon-Nice race, averaging 32mph, and two days later achieved a maximum speed of 53.5mph along the Promenade des Anglais, unparalleled performances that emphatically outclassed the opposition. Indeed, so successful was the Mercedes that Daimler adopted the name for its passenger cars in 1902.

By 1908/9 Daimler was producing an excellent range of shaft-driven touring cars, the work of Paul Daimler, Maybach's successor. Privateers still campaigned Mercedes products in sport, and in the fashionable endurance events of the time achieved major successes. Not the least of these was the magnificent 1-2-3 finish of three Mercedes 16/50hp cars in the gruelling 2,000 mile Tsar Nicholas St Petersburg-Moscow-St Petersburg Trial of 1910.

The 1910 35PS Landaulet offered here benefits from 45-year family ownership, where it has been a part of an outstanding pre-war collection alongside a number of high-power Mercedes-Benz cars and rare pre-war automobiles. This model was offered with a choice of three body styles: Double Phaeton, Sedan, and Landaulet; this car is offered with the Landaulet body, featuring two main seats towards the rear with a further two foldable seats in the rear, and affords the possibility of a complete folding roof. The car's restoration was carried out in the mid-1970s at a cost of £30,000.

The Mercedes is finished in a striking light yellow with contrasting hand-painted light green stripes and has recently undergone recommissioning work in preparation for sale by pre-war experts Parkes Restorations. The history file contains a Daimler Chrysler certificate and copy despatch record, though it should be noted that the car currently has a revised body and an earlier (8,500cc) engine than fitted originally. The registration 'N 27' comes with it.