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The world’s largest restoration and repair business for the brand’s
classic vehicles
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Closely interwoven with the Group Archives: original sources ensure
originality
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Expertise covering all vehicles in the history of Mercedes-Benz since
1886
Following extensive refurbishment and expansion, Mercedes-Benz opened its
Classic Center in Fellbach last weekend. With an area that now measures a
total of some 18,000 square metres, this is where Mercedes-Benz Heritage
offers the entire performance spectrum for classic vehicles bearing the
star, across all eras and model series. The offering ranges from maintenance
and repairs all the way to factory restorations, vehicle trading,
manufacturer’s expert assessments and Mercedes-Benz Classic Genuine Parts.
With approximately 10,000 square metres of workshop space and around 70
experts, the site is the world’s largest restoration, servicing and repair
business for classic Mercedes-Benz automobiles. During the opening ceremony,
Sandra Button, long-standing chairwoman of the Pebble Beach Concours
d’Elegance, was presented with the Mercedes-Benz Heritage Lifetime
Achievement Award. Marcus Breitschwerdt, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Heritage GmbH,
presented her with the award.
Current photo and video material from the opening of the refurbished
Classic Center.
“The extensive expansion of the Classic Center marks a milestone for
Mercedes-Benz Heritage. The range of services dedicated to preserving
classic cars with the star in the long term demonstrates what our brand
stands for: the utmost quality, the preservation of our history and a view
to the future. Completely in keeping with our guiding principle: ‘Heritage
Creates Future’.”
Marcus Breitschwerdt, Executive Vice President of Mercedes-Benz AG and CEO
of Mercedes-Benz Heritage GmbH
A further property has been added in the immediate proximity of the
established main site, making it possible to reorganise the available areas
and workflows, and providing individual divisions with more space. With six
specialist trades, the Classic Center covers all the work performed on
classic Mercedes-Benz automobiles. In this way, complete factory
restorations can be carried out in-house. New additions include a paint
booth and an engine test bench. Specialised machines for metalworking and
the processing of engine components are now part of the centre’s equipment.
Parallel to this, the team has also grown. Experienced specialists pass on
their particular expertise to the next generation in the centre. As part of
mentoring programmes, young professionals who have completed their training
in modern automotive trades work alongside these specialists over an
extended period. This helps to preserve valuable knowledge for the future.
Personnel capacities in Fellbach have also been expanded to encompass other
Classic Center activities, from vehicle trading all the way to the supply of
replacement parts.
Access to the Group Archives’ unique historical knowledge
Above and beyond the technical equipment, one of the Classic Center’s
particular strengths lies in its access to the knowledge of the brand’s
history. The workshop regularly draws on original technical documents,
design data and historical background material from the Mercedes-Benz Group
Archives, one of the largest private business archives. These sources help
to ensure that the work done on historic vehicles is as authentic as
possible. Collaboration is especially close when it comes to the
manufacturer’s expert assessment from Mercedes-Benz. It is a joint
initiative by Classic Center and Group Archives; the result is a
comprehensive document recognised by collectors and the trade. It assesses
the originality and condition of a classic car on the basis of detailed
research carried out on the vehicle and in the Group Archives.
An even greater focus on private customers
For decades now, the Classic Center has supported Mercedes-Benz’s historic
vehicle collection, which now has more than 1,100 vehicles. Original
documents from the Group archive substantiate the biographies of these
vehicles, from historic Grand Prix racing cars all the way to so-called
end-of-production vehicles, i.e. the last of the vehicles built in a
particular series. With these expanded capacities, the expertise which has
increased as a result of this work is now even more available to private
customers, whether they own older classics or drive modern classics which
are still very much part of everyday motoring, such as the SLK (R 170), the
first CLS (C 219) or the R-Class (model series 251).
The supply of replacement parts is a core responsibility
Mercedes-Benz Classic manages a range of around 160,000 Mercedes-Benz
Classic Genuine Parts for the brand’s classic vehicles. Replacement and
wearing parts are produced according to original factory specifications and
help to ensure that vehicle maintenance and repairs are professionally
handled. Via the worldwide sales and distribution network, available parts
can generally be delivered within 24 hours.
Strategy of Mercedes-Benz Heritage GmbH
With the expansion of the Classic Center, Mercedes-Benz Heritage has
concluded the restructuring of its classic vehicle division. Since 2023,
Mercedes-Benz Heritage GmbH has been consolidating all of the brand’s
heritage activities, from the Mercedes-Benz Museum and Classic Center,
through the vehicle collection, Genuine Parts and vehicle trading, all the
way to brand clubs, events and the global Classic Partner network.
Photos
Further research and multimedia material:
mercedes-benz-archive.com/marsmuseum