, Gottlieb Daimler , Emil Jellinek , Wilhelm Maybach , and Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft Mercedes-Benz S-class Mercedes-Benz traces its origins to Karl Benz’s creation of the first petrol -powered car, the Benz Patent Motorwagen , patented in January 1886 [1] and Gottlieb Daimler and engineer Wilhelm Maybach ‘s conversion of a stagecoach by