Mercedes-Benz has celebrated the return of three S-Class sedans from an extraordinary 65,000km journey around the world with a spectacular festival featuring 140 of its vehicles and almost 15,000 attendees.

Held at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart on October 17, the ‘140 Festival’ marked the end of the company’s ‘140 Years. 140 Places.’ world tour, which began in January to celebrate 140 years since the invention of the automobile by Carl Benz.

The three S-Class sedans, affectionately named ‘Bertha’, ‘Carl’ and ‘Gottlieb’, after automotive pioneers Bertha Benz, Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, departed Stuttgart on January 29, exactly 140 years after Carl Benz filed his patent for the world’s first automobile.

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Since then, the vehicles have travelled more than 65,000km through 55 countries across six continents, averaging approximately 450km per day, according to the brand. The journey included 67 international border crossings and 140 destinations, including both Sydney and Melbourne in Australia.

Along the way, the vehicles encountered challenging conditions like flooded roads during India’s monsoon season, rough and unsealed roads across Africa and the Umling La mountain pass in India, which lies 5800 metres above sea level.

To celebrate their safe return, Mercedes-Benz organised a convoy of 140 vehicles from its history, which joined the three S-Class sedans on their final kilometres to the museum.

Among the vehicles participating were a replica of the original 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the legendary 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, experimental C 111 and classic Ponton 220 S. More modern vehicles included the electric G-Class, new electric C-Class, GT 4-Door Coupé and new limited edition CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung. The festival also staged the world premiere of the new Mercedes-AMG GT SUV, which is AMG’s first in-house SUV.

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Mercedes-Benz says further anniversary activities will continue throughout the remainder of 2026, including additional Mercedes-Benz Studios around the world and a commemorative book documenting the journey of the three S-Class sedans.