Mercedes Jellinek. The years nor her debtors were kind to her. She died alone in 1929 of bone cancer at the age of 39after two disastrous marriages and a failed singing career. Adriana Manuela Ramona Jellinek was her full name.

Her family nickname rode a car that was first fast and later powerful. Racers beat them to death and sometimes drove them to their own deaths. Leaders of nations and chiefs of industry owned them, while the streets of Europe and the Middle East were plied with taxi versions. Her name actually overrode and supplanted the name of an automotive pioneer who had never met the man whose company's destiny joined his own in the long ride toward the part ownership of Chrysler.

Her father later appended her nickname to his own, so that people would know who he was, because, for some reason, the Jellinek name didn't ring any bells in the common memory.

She was a pretty girl, as was her sister Maja, who also had a car named after her. You've probably never heard of a Maja. They were heavy touring cars that were only made for a couple of years. It is unknown whether any still exist.

There are generations of people who have no idea who Otto Daimler was but have heard of the Mercedes-Benz all their lives. This must make Herr Benz' ghost very proud and Herr Daimler's wonder where he went wrong...