Pakoe Boewono X (who ruled between 1893-1939)
was the first Indonesian to drive a Benz
Victoria Phaeton in 1894 in Surakarta (solo).
The second Benz car in Indonesia (1897) was
‘Velo Comfortable’ owned by A. H. Prōttle, a
businessman of German descent in Surabaya.
In 1902, the first Benz car arrived in Sumatra
and was owned by Prof. Dr. W. Schrüffner
in Medan.
In 1934, the supercharged Mercedes-Benz Type
500 K entered Indonesia. The car boasted a
5-liter, 8-cylinder engine with a maximum speed of 160 kilometers per hour – an
extraordinary feat for a relatively heavy 1930s-made vehicle.
In the 1950s and 1960s, several Mercedes-Benz
cars entered Indonesia – these included
sedans, buses, and trucks The super-tough mini truck ‘Unimog Type U401’ sold 1,094 units
for use in the military and across tea plantations in East Java
In 1953, Fuchs & Rens, a car dealer and
assembly workshop in Bandung, began assembling
type 180 cars, known as the Mercedes-Benz Ponton
The first assembled car in Indonesia was used
as the official vehicle of Jakarta Mayor
Raden Soediro (a position equivalent to Governor at the time).
Fuchs & Rens also expanded into Jakarta. In
the 1960s, the name was changed to PT
Permorin,as a Mercedes-Benz dealer in Central Jakarta
In 1962, Indonesia had the honor of hosting
the Asian Games and the Games of the New
Emerging Forces (GANEFO). To support the smooth transportation of athletes, the
organizers, through PT Permorin, provided medium-sized buses (type L-319), and large
buses (0 321 H).
