A peek inside Mercedes-Benz's "Holy Halls"

A stunning new book for the first time opens up the treasures of the so-called Mercedes-Benz "Holy Halls” to the world.

The Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart is one of the largest and most visited industrial museums in the world, but the 160 or so automobiles on display at the exhibition are only a small part of the treasures that are part of the Mercedes-Benz Classic vehicle collection. Another 1 000 (yes, one thousand!) historical models are stored in secret places outside Stuttgart - they are called the "Holy Halls". The "Holy Halls" are not open to the public. Inquiries from the media are often rejected.

But for this new book, Mercedes-Benz Classic agreed for the first time to open the "Holy Halls" to Christof Vieweg and an external photo team and to provide information about the car models stored there.

It was a big project - from 2016 to 2018 almost all the vehicles of the Mercedes collection were photographed. Thus a unique photographic collection was created, an automobile history spanning more than ten decades. Many of these unpublished photographs are now exclusively available for the illustrated book "Holy Halls" for the first time.

100 years of Mercedes history

Series models up to 1945 are compiled in the introductory chapter, from the Benz Patent Motor Car, for example, the innovative Mercedes Simplex 40 PS and the striking Benz Spider through to luxury vehicles such as the 770 “Grosser Mercedes” or the sporty but elegant variants of the Mercedes-Benz 500 K / 540 K.

The pace increases as the focus shifts to racing and record-breaking cars. The Benz “Prince Heinrich” racing touring car, Silver Arrows from the 1930s and 1950s, the Sauber-Mercedes C 9 and the “EVO II” as well as Formula One racing cars right up to the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 W09 EQ Power+: these and many other stars from 125 years of Mercedes-Benz motorsports are illustrated in great detail.

Legendary post-war models such as the majestic Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman Landaulet or the Mercedes-Benz 300 “Popemobile” are covered before the penultimate section deals with some prototypes and rarities. At this point, the book aims its spotlight at particularly rare or unique models – such as the 1935 Mercedes-Benz 150 Sports Roadster, the 300 SL “Hobel”, the 300 SLR “Uhlenhaut Coupé”, the SLX project, various versions of the C 111 and the S 500 Intelligent Drive.

The sparkling concluding chapter shows the exhibits of the collection out in the real world: at international classic rallies and car exhibitions.

Many of these well-kept treasures are shown in large-size format underlined by exciting background stories and vivid photo documentary.

A must for any Mercedes-Benz fan! Very limited number of copies available. 

You can order the book here.

Product details:

• 1st edition 2019
• Format: Bound
• Pages: 244
• Dimensions: 26.9 x 28.9 cm
• Photos & Pictures: 207