Entries and Classes have now been confirmed for the 8th iteration of Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance on Cockatoo Island from Friday Feb. 27 to Sunday March 1.

The fifty vehicles have been selected in eight classes and will be judged on the Friday by a team of local and international judges. See special ticket pricing for RACA members below.

One of the celebrated classes this year is the Centenary of Mercedes Benz.

Three-pointed star centenary
1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé
1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé
1956 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL




1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster
1959 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL
1969 Mercedes-Benz 280 SL
1963 Mercedes-Benz 300 SE Cabriolet

But importantly, the company’s foundation dates back to 1886.
The origins of the pioneering spirit: 1886 and start-up spirit




On 29 January 1886, Carl Benz applied for a patent for his three-wheeled motor car. Patent DRP 37435 for the “gas-powered vehicle” is widely regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile. It is now part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register and marks the beginning of modern individual mobility. Carl’s wife, Bertha, supported him from the very beginning. In 1888, she undertook the world’s first long-distance journey in an automobile – a milestone. Almost at the same as Carl Benz in 1886, Gottlieb Daimler installed the high-speed combustion engine he had developed together with Wilhelm Maybach, in a carriage. This is how the first four-wheeled automobile was created.

140 years ago, Benz and Daimler invented their automobiles in a productive environment where the time was ripe for groundbreaking mobility innovations. They never met personally and worked independently of each other, although only around 130 kilometres apart. Both were shaped by a regional, south-west German self-image and an attitude that consistently focused on quality and competence. Carl Benz was one of the early academically trained engineers in Germany, and the talented Gottlieb Daimler followed a similar path thanks to public scholarships – both thus embodying a modern German image of engineering that achieved world renown through a high level of training and innovative strength. Whether in Carl Benz’s workshop in Mannheim or in Gottlieb Daimler’s garden house in Cannstatt, this early phase stands for start-up spirit, unconventional solutions, high standards and the courage to take entrepreneurial risks with visionary ideas.

From pioneer to technology leader: continuity of progress

In 1926, Benz & Cie. and Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft merged to form Daimler-Benz AG. The Mercedes-Benz brand had already been registered in 1925 in the course of preparations for the merger. Guided by the famous star logo, the company drove forward the triumphant advance of the automobile with pioneering technology that was always perfectly attuned to the needs of the times – from axle pivot steering for precise cornering to the supercharged vehicles of the 1920s and 1930s, numerous safety innovations since the 1950s to today’s digital systems such as MB.DRIVE ASSIST PRO and MB.OS. This continuous chain of innovation has shaped not only the company’s own products and the automotive industry, but also society and mobility culture – making the brand’s history a factor for the future: “Heritage Creates Future”. Building on this foundation, development continues apace: new technologies are already in the starting blocks.



Concours Details
Date: Friday 27th February – Sunday 1st March
Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm
Location: Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour – regular ferry services available from Circular Quay and wharves along the Parramatta River.

RACA Ticket price: $350 per person /day. For RACA members the ‘normal’ ticket of $450 is reduced to $350 or you can upgrade to the special private lounge ticket including sit down silver service luncheon at $750 (normal price $1,000). All prices plus GST.

RACA Members please use the discount code below to get this special price.
Discount Code - 7y8v4wnb

Tickets can be purchased via the link below:
Ticket Options - Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance