in aller Welt

Factory line photos

T range heaven

You'll believe a "T" can fly !

There they go...

... a nice yellow one leaves the factory.

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Below is a copy of the article entitled "Quality is all-important" starting on page 21 a 1978 edition of "im aller Welt".  Back then the annual subscription cost DM 12.   To the left are some pictures from this article featuring the T's

All cars with the star on the radiator casing come from Sindelfingen. This sentence is only half true now, for the new models of the T-range (as well as the 207D, 307D, 208D and 308D vans) have been coming off the assembly line for some time in the Daimler-Benz Bremen works.

From the very start the five new models - 240TD, 300TD, 230T, 250T and 280TE were noted with great interest as universal limousines which set new standards on the international market for estate cars. The variety of uses to which they can be put are almost unlimited; they range from mere transport top pleasure touring. Whether used for leisure or business, a model of the T-range offers everyone the solution to his transport problems.

Due to lack of capacity, it was not possible to build the new models in the Sindelfingen works. In the Bremen works Daimler-Benz had a factory which could look back on a long tradition of car manufacture. Lets take a quick look at the history.

It began in 1938 when the car factory of the Carl F.W. Borgward Automobil-und Motorenwerke GmbH was inaugurated. After it was destroyed in 1945 and later reconstructed, the production of commercial vehicles was begun in these works and four years later the production of cars, among from 1954 the well known Borgward "Isabella", a powerful medium class car.

In 1960 the factory was expanded with the erection of a new wing. In 1961 Rheinstahl Hanomag took over the Sebaldsbruck works. In 1961 production of the "Isabella" was discontinued and with that an epoch of many years of car production in Bremen came to an end. A new era began in 1969 with the foundation of the Hanomag-Henschel vehicle works, in which Daimler-Benz had a share of 51 % and Rheinstahl of 49%. Only two years later Daimler-Benz took over the factory completely. After this, Bremen came to fill more and more the role of a van production factory. In Bremen about 187,000 light commercial vehicles of what is called internally the P14 model came off the line, before this model was replaced by the new Mercedes-Benz van range. Over 40,000 of these vehicles leave the factory per year, either as pickups or box vans, or as crewbuses. The vans are equipped either with a 2.4 litre diesel, or a 2.3 litre petrol engine and are also available in three different wheelbases. There is a total of 200 body variants.

[continued in next column]

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The activities of Daimler-Benz in the Bremen area have brought not inconsiderable advantages for the local economy. From 1969 to 1977 about 250 mill. DM were set aside for the expansion and modernisation of the factory. Further investments of over 200 mill. DM are planned for the period 1978-1981. Following the increase in staff which took place in 1977, it is planned to increase the staff further in 1978 by about 1.000 additional employees which will then put up the total number of staff to over 5,500 - a welcome relief for the labour situation in Bremen. The Daimler-Benz Sebaldsbruck factory has thus developed into one of the largest employers in the Hanseatic town. In his inaugural speech, Prof. Dr. Zahn, Chairman of the Daimler-Benz Management Board, also mentioned the economic importance of the Bremen works. Prof. Zahn stressed that with the use of considerable financial means, the company had already laid the foundation stone for a more economic type of manufacture, considering, for example, the concentration of the complete van range in the Sebaldsbruck factory. It can be said that Bremen is now an established part of the coordinated Daimler-Benz production compound.

In the Bremen works, the same principles apply as in all other Daimler-Benz factories; quality is all-important. Experienced staff are employed in every factory whose trained eyes do not miss any fault in a vehicle part. Whether in the pressing works, in the welding shop, on the assembly line or in the paintshop - inspection stations are set up between the individual manufacturing departments, where all parts are checked with the most modern measuring equipment, to see that everything is correct. And when a car of the T-range leaves the assembly line in Bremen, you can be sure that it has the same perfection as a vehicle from the Sindelfingen works. The components engines, transmissions, drive-shafts, axles and steering systems are delivered to this factory as to the other factories within the Daimler-Benz production compound. Versatile vehicles on a solid basis.

Read about a Rally in South America in another edition of IAW