Royal Oak. Auto Lab Troy 2790 West Maple Rd. Troy, MI 48084 (248) 643-7690 Mercedes-Benz traces its origins to Karl Benz's creation of the first  petrol -powered car, the  Benz Patent Motorwagen , patented in January 1886 and  Gottlieb Daimler and engineer  Wilhelm Maybach 's conversion of a stagecoach by the addition