{"id":637780,"date":"2026-08-15T00:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T00:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/637780\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T00:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T00:32:18","slug":"publicity-drive-mercedes-benz-issues-birth-certs-for-vintage-cars-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/637780\/","title":{"rendered":"Publicity drive: Mercedes-Benz issues birth certs for vintage cars \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ll never know what Janis Joplin would have thought of the latest money-making scheme from Mercedes-Benz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On October 4th, 1970, three days after recording her a cappella song Oh Lord, won\u2019t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?, the Lord called home the heroin-addicted artist. <\/p>\n

As for Mercedes-Benz, it has a new offer for owners of its classic cars: an official birth certificate.<\/p>\n

For just \u20ac130, the company will scour their \u201chistorical archive records\u201d and issue you with a document on high-quality certificate paper in a \u201cspecially-designed presentation folder\u201d. Because \u2013 did no one tell you? \u2013 \u201cyour Mercedes-Benz is more than a vehicle: it has a documented origin\u201d.<\/p>\n

The information on the certificate will include body style, shipping date, paint finish and interior trim. The offer extends only for owners of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars manufactured between January 1st, 1986 and December 31st, 2010.<\/p>\n

It \u201cdoes not constitute a certificate of authenticity, valuation report, proof of ownership or technical appraisal\u201d, the company says. Nor does it \u201cprovide any statement regarding the current condition, present-day originality, authenticity, roadworthiness, eligibility for registration or value of the vehicle or any individual vehicle components\u201d.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all part of a wider push to mark the 140th anniversary of Mercedes-Benz. The company views as its own birth certificate the patent numbered DRP 37435. It was issued on January 29th, 1886, to Carl Benz for a \u201cgas-powered vehicle\u201d.<\/p>\n

Not everything has gone the company\u2019s way during the birthday push. News of a luxury watch collaboration with Swiss company IWC Schaffhausen was overshadowed by a US class-action lawsuit from Mercedes owners who say the brand badges on car seats, once left in direct sunlight, actually brand them.<\/p>\n

Amid senior executive departures are ongoing issues around what was once the chief Mercedes selling point: reliability. <\/p>\n

One leading car website noted this week that even what it considered the company\u2019s most reliable C-class has known recall issues over seatbelts, fuel pump reliability and \u201cthe active braking system triggering for no reason\u201d.<\/p>\n

As China<\/a> makes inroads into the European<\/a> market, Mercedes-Benz\u2019s net profit slumped by half last year to \u20ac5.3 billion.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Chinese customers are shunning the once-beloved Mercedes at home. Some think the time is looming not for a Mercedes birth but death certificate. <\/p>\n

Even if Janis had lived, it is unlikely she would have wanted the document. <\/p>\n

She described her Mercedes song, written in half an hour in a bar, as a \u201csong of great social and political import\u201d. <\/p>\n

It was less a shopping list and more a satire on consumerism. And, for the record, she drove a second-hand Porsche. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019ll never know what Janis Joplin would have thought of the latest money-making scheme from Mercedes-Benz. On October…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,18,6621,19,17,44700],"class_list":["post-637780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-eire","tag-germany","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mercedes-benz"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117096713153957657","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}