Mercedes clearly has a psychic wunderkind stationed deep within its Stuttgart walls, because it doesn't build cars, it builds the future.

Every single Mercedes S-Class previews technology you'll soon be able to find in your toaster, circa 2025. Want your bread to pop out brown and with three-way adjustable vibrating crusts to care for your fingertips while you eat? Look at tomorrow's S-Class.

But what's interesting is not where Mercedes is going, but where it has been. Because we found a picture of the original luxury, high-end Mercedes that spawned the S-Class family way back at the turn of the century - and frankly, you'd never be able to tell the relation.

It's that big red fun bus in the picture below. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the Mercedes Simplex 60PS, and it launched in 1903. It was a touring ‘sedan', apparently, and was owned by Emil Jellinek. Jellinek, don't forget, was a key player in Merc's history - it's his daughter that gave her name to the brand.

It entered the European stage to great acclaim, and even proved itself on the racetrack. Take for example, the 1903 ‘Gordon Bennett' cup in Ireland; English and American competitors had apparently spent weeks practising on the track and knew every nuance. Mercedes simply hopped into the Simplex, drove from the factory in Germany to Paris, crossed the channel, drove up through Wales to the Irish Sea and then competed.

The press at the time noted how Mercedes "beat everything that could be described as the quintessence of international automotive engineering".

So as you've already seen where Mercedes is going - via this story - here's a quick look at how the S-Class has evolved.

(2) Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 460

Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler merged their two companies in 1926, and thus formed Daimler-Benz AG. And as a little high-five to itself, built the first Mercedes production car with an eight-cylinder engine in 1928: the Nürburg (W 08), above. It remained on sale through to 1939, when, erm, something else quite seismic began in mainland Europe that sort of took up people's attention..

(3)Mercedes-Benz 770

This was a very large German car, with a very large and quite supercharged eight-cylinder 7.7-litre engine, with a very unfortunate history. You see, this Mercedes 770 was, says Mercedes, used "primarily by uncrowned heads of state and high-ranking figures...". One of which included Hitler. Still, it was 1930s opulence and extravagance at its best. A few years back, one sold for £9 million. It was Hitler's.

(4)Mercedes-Benz 300

Upon the Mercedes 300's launch, it was the fastest German production car, boasting a heady top speed of 160km/h - a shade under 100mph. Underneath sat a 3.0-litre straight-six engine, with the Swiss press at the time declaring it "a milestone in the history of automotive engineering".

Some of this engineering included a safety tang lock to prevent the doors from bursting open, an electrically-operated torsion bar suspension to compensate the height of the rear wheels under heavy loads, and even heating with a blower as standard!

(5)Mercedes-Benz 220

This 220 marked Mercedes' post-war regeneration and the company's return to luxury automobile manufacturing. And of course, some tech. In this series, which soon bore the ‘S' designation that would define it, you got crumple zones both front and rear - the first time such things had been used on a production car - a padded steering wheel, wedge-pin door locks, disc brakes and a dual-circuit braking system.

(6)Mercedes-Benz 600

It appeared a year and a half after the last 300 rolled off the production line, and came with a 6.3-litre V8 to make it the top dollar Benz.

It was favoured by the kind of gentleman who had the ability to order an air strike at a moment's notice, and was thus both feared and respected. But it was impeccably built: air suspension, hydraulic appointments all-round (including that boot), and a wheelbase big enough to dominate.

(7) Mercedes-Benz 250S/300SEL

These W108 and W109 saloons replaced the old 1965 ‘fintail' Benz, and featured such innovation as a hydropneuamatic compensating spring on the rear axle, air suspension and a safety steering system. Oh, and this W108 came in 300 SEL flavour, which was of course, the all-singing, all-conquering 6.3-litre V8, a variant of which finished second at the Spa 24hrs in 1971. They called it ‘The Red Pig'.

(8 ) Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W116)

Finally, after years of flirting with the letter ‘S' in its top-end models, Mercedes finally went guns blazing and labelled its top dog the S-Class. And befitting its stature as the King of Benz's meant this new S came with a collision-proof fuel tank, a safety steering wheel, dirt-deflecting side windows and rear lamps, and - from 1978 - the first series production car to get ABS. That's a big tick in the innovation box.

Not only that, this S-Class also came with cruise control, self-levelling suspension and was the first production car with a turbo-diesel engine: the 300SD from 1978.

(9)Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W126)

1979 was the year Mercedes decided to ditch the shiny bumpers and install deformable plastic ones. For chrome bumper fetishists, these were dark times indeed; the dawn of the apocalypse, even. But for the wealthy elite who bought the W126 S-Class, it meant being able to ding inferior peasant cars and not have to replace the car's chin.

Elsewhere on the new S, you got airbags, lighter all-alloy V8 engines, a bodyshell with a ‘forked' longitudinal member to meet the offset crash requirements (it was the first car to do so) and acceleration slip regulation as an option on the V8 models.

(10)Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W140)

This was a good S-Class, because this S-Class was the first production car at Mercedes to feature a V12. It was, in fact, the company's most powerful passenger car (at that time) with the 600 SE and 600 SEL.

But of course, there was much electronic wizardy and witchcraft at play underneath, including (deep breath): electronic stability programme (ESP) as standard from 1995, brake assist, park sensors, an auto-pilot navigation system, adaptive damping, ‘closing assist' for the doors and boot, double glazing on the side windows, voice control and a "total avoidance of chlorofluorocarbons".

(11)Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W220)

Early Mercedes pioneers may have been spinning in their graves, what with this new generation S-Class shunning bombproof, weapons-grade metal and lead and other heavy stuff, instead opting for lightweight materials such as light alloy and (gasp) plastic. Plastic! In an S-Class!

Still, other Good Stuff happened in the shape of the first S-badged AMG model, the S55 AMG, while Mercedes' focus on safety resulted in the ‘pre-safe' preventive occupant safety system. It "initiated measures" in the case of an imminent collision. Sadly, this didn't include reassuring words and the He-Man theme tune.

You also got active body control, ventilated seats, cylinder cut-off systems, a low drag coefficient, and keyless access.

(12) Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W221)

We're rather taken with the current generation S-Class. It's probably the best luxury saloon you can buy today, that is of course, until the next generation pops out. You might not be concerned by such things, but it was the first car to get environmental certificate. You will however, revel in its equipment levels: you get night view assist, park assist, the pre-safe braking system, proximity control (which induces automatic braking), lane keeping assist and even a speed limit assist.

In fact, any more ‘assists' and it'd drive itself. Which neatly brings us onto the forthcoming W222 model Mercedes S-Class..