After its inauguration as a center for historical vehicles, the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center has developed into a pioneer and worldwide market leader in the responsible and professional care of historical Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

To celebrate the Classic Center’s tenth anniversary on May 18, 2003, one of the most spectacular classic car events to date, attended by some 45,000 spectators, was staged in the area around the Classic Center. For this event, several hundred historical vehicles and their owners from the international Mercedes-Benz Clubs as well as owners of classic cars from other brands had come to Fellbach just outside Stuttgart. And for the first time, several generations of historical racing, sports and other cars from the unique collection of the Mercedes-Benz Museum presented themselves to the public.

The absolute highlight was a superlative driving and show program with classic cars. After a parade of the most appealing and most exotic jewels from the Mercedes-Benz Collection, the spectators were able to watch about a dozen thrilling races with two cars competing against each other at a time. To these races, friends from the classic car departments of BMW, Audi and Porsche had also been invited together with their automotive jewels and legendary winners’ cars. For instance, a W 154 Formula One car from 1939 competed against the equally legendary 16-cylinder Auto Union model from 1937 in the “Duel of the Silver Arrows”. And the Mercedes Sauber C9, winner of the 1989 Le Mans race with Jochen Mass at the wheel raced against the Porsche 917, which had won the world’s most famous long-distance race in 1970.

A very special highlight for racing car fans was the reappearance of the streamlined Mercedes W 196 Silver Arrow from 1954 after several years of restoration. Driven by H. Herrmann, it made the hearts of the spectators beat faster with its unmistakable sound. In the grand finale, numerous examples of the intriguing supercharged Mercedes six-cylinder models from the 1920s could be admired. With displacements of over seven liters and breathtaking performance, the S, SS and SSK models wrote an important chapter in Mercedes-Benz motorsport history.

"We are overwhelmed by the enormous response to this event," said Stefan Röhrig, former head of DaimlerChrysler Classic. "The fascination with the historical cars of Mercedes-Benz Classic and with the Silver Arrows remains unbroken. The crowds of spectators demonstrated the deep attachement both towards our workforce and the people living in the greater Stuttgarter area and how they feel for about our company."