Why Mercedes-Benz's Newest Division Is Going All-In on Classic Cars

Mercedes-Benz is getting serious about classic cars. That might sound like a strange thing to say about a company that has long held on to more than 1,000 examples of its old cars, some dating back more than 130 years and stashed in various locations around Stuttgart, Germany. But in April 2023, Mercedes created a new subsidiary called Mercedes-Benz Heritage GmbH, run by Marcus Breitschwerdt, the former head of Mercedes-Benz Cars Europe and Mercedes-Benz Vans, and one of the company's five executive vice-presidents. Breitschwerdt reports directly to Mercedes-Benz chairman and CEO, Ola Källenius.

That is a lot of corporate horsepower to throw at a bunch of old cars and some museums. But Mercedes-Benz Heritage has been set up as a serious, for-profit business unit that not only aims to make money out of old Benzes, but also to underpin the credibility of the Mercedes-Benz brand as the company transitions into the EV era.

Before Mercedes-Benz Heritage was created, the various elements of Mercedes-Benz's vast array of historic assets—the classic car collection, the museums, the archives, the spare parts operation—were loosely grouped together and overseen by the company's sales and marketing operation, and the money spent in those areas was simply seen as a cost that could be cut every year. "Everybody liked the cars, the collection, so they didn't do any harm to it," Breitschwerdt says. "But people with the right skills to work on the cars were not replaced when they retired, and important cars were not bought when they were available."

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Now Mercedes-Benz Heritage will be able to buy and sell cars for its collection based on a strategic vision to have at least two examples of every Mercedes model, one restored and fully drivable and one unrestored that can be used as a reference vehicle. The existing restoration operation, which currently focuses on cars in the heritage fleet, as well as a handful of high-end customer cars, is to be expanded. Mercedes-Benz Heritage will also buy old Benzes, restore them and offer them for sale, and sell original parts and components.

Other services in the works range from an official $130 data card that will tell you exactly what original equipment was fitted to your Mercedes-Benz when it was built to a $28,000 expert evaluation of your vehicle to determine its authenticity and restoration options. Breitschwerdt also wants to create and sell packages that will, for example, allow people to pay for a 186-mph thrill ride in a Mercedes 300SLR racer or to take part in the Mille Miglia in a factory-backed 300SL Gullwing. Mercedes-Benz Heritage is also working on a scheme that will enable owners to have their 30- or 40-year-old classic Mercedes regularly serviced and maintained by an approved technician.  "We will do good business with those cars," he says of service and maintenance packages covering models like the 190E, the W123- and W124-generation E-Class models, and the R129 SL Roadster. "And we want to make sure those packages are affordable so we can bring younger people into the classic car world."

Breitschwerdt admits that as a business unit Mercedes-Benz Heritage is not going to make huge profits. But that's not the point, he says. So why do it? "Heritage creates the future," he says. The big idea behind Mercedes-Benz Heritage is that it will become the bridge between Mercedes-Benz's storied past - it is, after all, the company whose founders invented the modern automobile and then went on to build some of the fastest, most powerful, most glamorous automobiles ever made - and a future where Mercedes cars will be increasingly defined by electric motors, batteries, screens, and computers.

"Our heritage is not one cylinder, then two, then four, then six, then eight," says Breitschwerdt. "Our heritage is striving for breakthrough technology, of thinking through concepts and trying new solutions. It's not a break in the chain to go from internal combustion engines to electric motors. It is simply following our heritage, and by using the collection, the museum, the archives, the events, our knowledge, we can explain that."

Though there have been signs that Mercedes-Benz, like other automakers, are backing away from earlier commitments to be selling nothing but electric vehicles by 2030 - "We will make our internal combustion drivetrains ready to go into the 2030s, and then we will see what the market dynamics look like," chairman and CEO Ola Källenius told us earlier this year—Breitschwerdt says the transition to EVs is inevitable. "We must go electric because that what society requests, and we must be a leader. But to make sure we are profitable we must also reposition the Mercedes-Benz brand as pure luxury."

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It's entirely reasonable to suggest that Mercedes-Benz's history makes credible the idea that its EVs will likely be cutting-edge automobiles, but Breitschwerdt admits making that EV technology feel luxurious will be a challenge. "A battery does many things, but it doesn't cry luxury. There is no battery watch in the world that is a luxury watch." For all that, Breitschwerdt says Mercedes-Benz is already creating EVs that are destined to become future classics: "I am absolutely convinced the new all-electric G-Class will make a great classic 40 or 50 years from now."

It's good to be the boss: Breitschwerdt has driven many of the cars in the Mercedes-Benz Heritage collection, including all the star cars such as the 300SL Gullwing and Roadster, the 300SLR racers, and some of the 16 mid-engine C111 experimental cars the company still owns. He's also a dab hand behind the wheel of the truly old stuff, as we discovered when we shared time behind the wheel of the 1904 Mercedes Simplex in the recent London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.

Asking him to choose a favorite from one of the most extraordinary fleets of classic cars in the world is a bit like asking him to choose a favorite child, but he demurs only momentarily before responding: "I really do like the pre-war cars," he says, before homing in on the supercharged and often extravagantly bodied 500K and 540K 'Kompressor' models. "I love the Kompressors."

And what classic car does the head of Mercedes-Benz Heritage have in his garage? Breitschwerdt says working for Mercedes in different countries over the years has in the past made it difficult to contemplate owning a classic car. But he does own a W113 Mercedes-Benz SL 'Pagoda Roof', the supremely elegant two-seater that debuted in 1963. "You could offer me a 300SL roadster or a Pagoda and I would go for the Pagoda because I like the style," he says bluntly. "It's the best English roadster Mercedes-Benz has ever built.