Mercedes-Benz Marks 140 Years of Motoring With Historic Global Tour Reaching Udaipur

Mercedes-Benz is celebrating 140 years of automotive history through a massive global expedition spanning six continents and covering over 60,000 kilometres. The tour began on January 29 at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, exactly 140 years after Carl Benz secured the patent for his first motor car. As part of this worldwide journey, pre-production S-Class models have arrived in India, visiting the historic lake city of Udaipur.

Royal Meetup

In Udaipur, the convoy met Dr. Lakshyaraj Singh of Udaipur, the 77th Custodian of the House of Mewar. He hosted the team and showcased an olive-green 180D used by three generations of his family. He also placed an official tour sticker on one of the new S-Class cars and took it for a test drive. The expedition later visited the Udaipur Royal Garage to inspect a vintage W124 300D driven past 2,00,000 kilometres by the earlier Maharana, Shri Arvind Singh Mewar. The journey then moved to Ahmedabad to visit Pranlal Bhogilal's Dastan Auto World collection, home to rare classics like a Maybach SW38 and 300S 'Adenauer' limousines.

Advanced Tech

The new S-Class models on the tour showcase cutting-edge engineering, including an M177 Evo V8 engine utilizing a flat-plane crankshaft for better fuel efficiency and lower emissions. Despite this sports-car-derived setup, the 537hp engine delivers a smooth, quiet ride paired with a supportive air suspension, rear-wheel steering, and Level 3 autonomous driving capabilities via Mercedes Drive Pilot.