As part of what it calls a “strategic partnership” with Mercedes-Benz Classic, Bonhams has announced plans for a single-marque auction sale this summer at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim, Germany, continuing a relationship between the prestigious German marque and the Bonhams motoring team that stretches back to the early 1990s.

Scheduled for July 12, the Bonhams’ Mercedes-Benz Salewill feature 40 classic cars ofBenz, Mercedesand Mercedes-Benz, including worldwide consignments, and be held in the Mercedes-Benz Museum, a sprawling state-of-the-art exhibition space measuring around 1,500-square-feet.

Mercedes-Benz’s roots can be traced back to 1886, when Carl Benz patented his pioneering “Motorwagen”, and Gottlieb Daimler fitted one of his new internal combustion engines into a four-wheeled carriage. Fourteen years later, in 1900, wealthy entrepreneur Emil Jellinekcommissioned Daimler to create what is billed as the first, ‘modern’ motor car, which he named after his 11-year-old daughter, Mercedes. The merging of the Daimler and Benz companies took place in 1926, which led to the marketing of its mainstream product, under the Mercedes-Benz brand moniker.

The brand’s relationship with the Bonhams motoring team was boosted last summer on the formidable sale of the 1954 ex-Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes-Benz W196. The 2.5-litre straight-8 engined Grand Prix car secured what Bonhams claimed was the world record auction price for any motorcar, at $30.18 million.

Commenting on the partnership, Michael Bock, head of Mercedes-Benz Classic at Daimler AG, stated: “We share an idea with Bonhams: Both of us stand for unique and authentic vehicles. We regard classic vehicles as a key heritage for society. And valuing authenticity plays an important role in this.”