Mercedes-Benz Celebrates the Brand’s Legendary Heritage and Future Icons at the 2026 Pebble Beach Automotive Week

• The Mercedes-Benz Future Classics Auction House debuts at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
• A beautifully curated display showcases future collector vehicles from Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Maybach.
• A near-identical twin of LeBron James' personal Mercedes-Maybach S 680 showcasing MANUFAKTUR craftsmanship highlights how personalization, exclusivity, and bespoke design are shaping the collector vehicles of tomorrow.
• Mercedes-Benz Classic celebrates 140 years of innovation and proudly displays the 1905 American Mercedes and 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Streamliner.

For 140 years, Mercedes-Benz has created vehicles that define their era and endure as benchmarks for generations. From the game-changing invention of the automobile and the iconic 300 SL to today's highly compelling product portfolio, the brand has continually shaped automotive culture through an unwavering commitment to innovation, performance and design. At the 2026 Pebble Beach Automotive Week, Mercedes-Benz will celebrate this legacy while exploring a question central to collectors and enthusiasts alike: Which vehicles from today will become the collector icons of tomorrow?

Mercedes-Benz Future Classics Auction House

This year, the prominent Mercedes-Benz brand presence includes the Future Classics Auction House, an immersive showcase inspired by the world’s most prestigious collector car auction houses. Seamlessly blending vehicle displays, collector-inspired installations and exclusive experiences, the exhibition presents a carefully curated selection of Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Maybach models and offers a compelling perspective regarding the qualities that elevate exceptional automobiles into collectible automotive icons connected by the brand’s unmatched legacy of innovation.

Notable vehicles that are featured include a near-identical twin of LeBron James' personal Mercedes-Maybach S 680, an AMG PureSpeed, an AMG G 63 Galactic Pearl, an AMG ONE and additional vehicles showcasing the innumerable possibilities of MANUFAKTUR customization. The Future Classics Auction House proudly showcases the incredible innovation, performance, and craftsmanship at the core of every Mercedes-Benz.

“The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance unites the world’s most extraordinary automobiles with the enthusiasts, collectors and storytellers shaping automotive culture. As Mercedes-Benz celebrates 140 years of innovation since the 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen first changed the game and reimagined mobility, we are proud to introduce the Future Classics Auction House during Monterey Car Week showcasing our legendary heritage while also demonstrating how Mercedes-Benz continues to reinvent the automobile through an awe-inspiring and technologically advanced new generation of vehicles also destined to become automotive icons.”
Adam Chamberlain, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA

Mercedes-Maybach S-Class personalized by LeBron James 

Among the highlights of the Future Classics Auction House is a Mercedes-Maybach S 680 created by LeBron James through MANUFAKTUR Made to Measure. The project began as a deeply personal vision for James' own Mercedes-Maybach S-Class and has evolved into a near-identical twin vehicle for collectors. Its design translates personal references into tangible details: a MANUFAKTUR exclusive light ivory non-metallic exterior, blue “Stormy Weather” Nappa leather interior with porcelain contrast stitching, James' personal emblem in place of the traditional V12 badge, and discreet engravings that reference Akron, Ohio, and his family. Following its appearance at Pebble Beach, the vehicle will be auctioned later this year to benefit the LeBron James Family Foundation and its revolutionary ecosystem of support for students and families including education, housing, healthcare, homeownership, job training and financial literacy through its I PROMISE program.

The vehicle also serves as a perfect showcase for MANUFAKTUR, Mercedes-Benz's cross-brand individualization program for top-end models. MANUFAKTUR brings personality to life through exclusive paint finishes, refined interior materials and handcrafted details such as stitching, embroidery, leatherwork and steering wheel craftsmanship. MANUFAKTUR Made to Measure expands those possibilities further: customers work one-to-one with Mercedes-Benz specialists to translate a personal idea, color inspiration or symbolic detail into a technically feasible, highly personalized vehicle. In the LeBron James-personalized S 680, that philosophy becomes especially visible: craftsmanship is not an abstract promise, but something collectors can see and touch in every bespoke detail.

Mercedes-Benz Studio Los Angeles

Earlier this year, Mercedes-Benz opened the first MANUFAKTUR Made to Measure Hub in the United States at Mercedes-Benz Studio Los Angeles in Beverly Hills, offering U.S. customers an exclusive one-to-one vehicle personalization experience in a private environment. Following the Center of Excellence in Sindelfingen, Germany, it is only the second MANUFAKTUR Made to Measure location worldwide. The U.S. hub provides collectors and customers a more immediate way to experience the same design logic and infinite possibilities demonstrated by the LeBron James-personalized Mercedes-Maybach S 680: a guided journey from personal story to material, color and handcrafted execution.

Mercedes-Benz Classic: Past, Present and Future

While the Future Classics Auction House looks toward the collector vehicles of tomorrow, Mercedes-Benz Classic will showcase automobiles that exemplify the qualities collectors have celebrated for generations. Those qualities have earned Mercedes-Benz a record 10 Best of Show awards at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance – more than any other manufacturer.

Leading the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance this year on August 13 will be the one-of-one 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Streamliner, an aerodynamic masterpiece that highlights the leadership of Mercedes-Benz in design, innovation and high-speed touring during the 1930s. Also participating in the Tour d'Elegance will be the highly anticipated new Mercedes-AMG GT SUV, offering a glimpse of the future of awe-inspiring AMG performance. Its appearance alongside historic Mercedes-Benz icons reinforces the broader Pebble Beach theme of connecting 140 years of innovation with the collector vehicles of tomorrow.

The last known remaining 1905 "American Mercedes," one of the first high-performance automobiles built in the United States and the first Mercedes manufactured in the U.S., will be shown at the Future Classics Auction House and at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on Sunday. More than 120 years after it was produced in Queens, New York, the vehicle returns to Pebble Beach after an extensive restoration done by the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Long Beach as a symbol of Mercedes-Benz's longstanding presence in the United States.

Icons Across 140 Years of Innovation

Additional heritage highlights include the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the vehicle that began the storied history of the automobile; the 1938 Mercedes-Benz 320 Streamliner Sedan, which will be showcased alongside the new Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe at Legends of the Autobahn; the celebrated Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II; the iconic Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster; and the legendary Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 AMG Black Series. Together, these vehicles demonstrate how innovation, performance and design excellence have defined Mercedes-Benz for generations.

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Mercedes-Benz Anniversary Year “140 Years of Innovation”
Since Carl Benz filed the patent for the first automobile 140 years ago and Gottlieb Daimler built his motorized carriage shortly afterwards, Mercedes‑Benz has dedicated itself to constant innovation and to creating the world’s most desirable cars for customers. This ambition has driven every innovation – from the world's first automobile in 1886 to the biggest product launch program in the company’s history that is currently underway. With its passion for performance and pioneering power, excellence and an unwavering commitment to customer service, the brand has consistently shaped the future of mobility. The result goes well beyond engineering achievement – it creates the unmistakable feeling that leads through everything Mercedes‑Benz does: Welcome home.

Mercedes-Benz is celebrating 140 years of innovation by driving three new S-Class sedans on a transcontinental journey to 140 locations worldwide. Each place highlights the brand’s technology, heritage, pioneering spirit and worldwide presence. Along the way customers, fans and colleagues will get to join in the celebrations - on an epic adventure that will run until October 2026. Follow the “140 Years. 140 Places” drive across six continents on our “140 Years of Innovation | Mercedes-Benz Media” special and via the Mercedes-Benz Community.

About Mercedes-Benz USA
Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA), headquartered in Atlanta, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and customer service for all Mercedes-Benz products in the United States. MBUSA offers drivers the most diverse lineup in the luxury segment with 18 model lines ranging from the sporty GLA SUV to the flagship S-Class and the dynamic all-electric vehicles from Mercedes-Benz. MBUSA is also responsible for Mercedes-Benz Vans in the U.S. More information on MBUSA and its products can be found at www.mbusa.com and www.mbvans.com. To learn more about all Mercedes-Benz entities in North America, visit https://group.mercedes-benz.com/northamerica.