GP Mercedes 1908

Car:		Mercedes 1908 GP		Engine:		4-Cylinder In-line
	Maker:		Mercedes		Bore X Stroke:		155 X 170-180 mm
	Year:		1908		Capacity:		12,781 cc
	Class:		Grand Prix		Power:		135 bhp at 1,400 rpm
	Wheelbase:		270 cm		Track:		140 cm

A combination of foot brake and hand brake that acted on the back wheels slowed the vehicle down while the 4-speed gear box and chain drive kept it going. The Michelin supplied tires were 875 mm x 105 mm in the front and 895 mm x 135 mm in the rear and pressured to 100 p.s.i.!

Mercedes Simplex

The Mercedes Simplex was an car produced from 1902-09 by the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG, Daimler Motor Society, a predecessor of Daimler-Benz and Daimler-Chrysler). It continued the use of the Mercedes name as the brand of DMG, rather than Daimler.

The Mercedes Simplex was designed by Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart, Germany. It featured powerful engines whose power ranged from 40 to 60 hp). Its large and wide body had a low center of gravity.

Mercedes 35 hp

The name Mercedes given by Mr.Emil Jellinek for German Daimler car company  who was a business man living in south of France at the 20th century.The first Mercedes car were 28 hp Daimler Phoenix models in 1900. The next Mercedes models were the most significant cars of their era. Jellinek thought to start a sporting car and he asked Daimler to produce a faster,lighter and better-handling machine which would be more competitive in sporting event.The response from the Wilhelm Maybach who was the chief engineer that he built a new 35 hp engine for the first time, an aluminum crankcase to reduce weight. conventionally intake valves were automatic and which opens by vacuum in the cylinder and improved valve timing with twin carburetor one for each pair of cylinder. The 35 hp engine offered sparkling performance together with unmatched smoothness. The chassis was equally innovative for the first time the side members were stamped from sheet steel to save the weight.

The first "Mercedes," the great 35 HP of 1901, was conceived by Daimler's distributor in Nice, the formidable Emil Jellinek: Austria-Hungary's vice-consul in the city, a seller and sometime racer of Daimler machines, a scion of the Hapsburg establishment. Writer David Scott-Moncrieff described Jellinek as "a small, excitable man -- in the matter of cars, like Toad of Toad Hall -- whatever he had, he wanted something bigger and better."

Jellinek especially wanted light cars, which was an uncommon idea in those days. He yearned for a "mechanical greyhound." Wilhelm Maybach and Daimler's talented son Paul set to work on a Daimler to meet his specifications. Jellinek encouraged them, promising to buy the first three dozen. He also selected the name Mercedes, after his 10-year-old daughter.

As often, things didn't quite go as planned. Daimler was able to complete only six cars by January 1901, and there was no time for a shakedown run before the Grand Prix of Pau in February, which was to be its racing debut. The race proved a fiasco. Both engine and gearbox were troublesome and the Mercedes retired after running only a few yards.

But things were different at Nice, where the Mercedes of factory driver Wilhelm Werner dominated events. The 35-bhp Mercedes was fastest in both the sprints and hillclimbs, and also won the 393-km (244-mile) Nice-Aix-Senas-Nice road race that climaxed the proceedings.

Today, 35 horsepower from a six-liter engine in a car weighing 2,200 pounds seems very pedestrian, to put it mildly. But it was truly sensational by the standards of 1901. The four-cylinder engine, with its camshaft-operated intake valves, was quite advanced, and gave the car a higher power/weight ratio than most others of the time.

Also, the Mercedes handled better than any other car yet seen. The secret was in its squat stance. The earlier Daimlers Jellinek had been racing were bulky, over twice as heavy as the Mercedes, and relatively high on a short wheelbase. The resulting instability was thought to have caused the death of a driver in the La Turbie hillclimb of 1899.

But the Mercedes was altogether lower and sleeker. Its hoodline was little higher than the tops of its fronttires, the chassis side members rode at least six inches nearer to the ground, and its driver sat closer to the midpoint of a longer wheelbase and behind a considerably more raked steering column.

On the next page, learn about the features of the 1901 Mercedes 35 HP.

Benz Velo

Karl Benz played a prominent role in promoting the development of the automobile. Some 25 units of the Benz Patent Motor Car of 1886 – the world's first automobile – were built. It goes without saying that Benz knew that a four-wheeled car would have greater cornering stability, however, he found the steering systems used for carriages at the time to be unsuitable for his purposes. He solved the problem – and filed a patent for his double-pivot steering (DRP 73515) in 1893. He installed it in the same year in his four-wheeled Victoria model. However, he had a lighter car in mind. At the World Exposition in Chicago (May 1 – October 31, 1893), Benz finally presented his Velocipede to the public. It was to become the world's first car from large-scale production and at the same time the first small car. Benz produced more than 1,200 units of this car between 1894 and 1902.

Karl Benz had also been engaged in the development of bicycles, called velocipedes at the time. At an early stage, he used this term for his first three-wheelers – probably to distinguish his light automobiles from the heavy motorized carriages. The Velo fulfilled all the criteria its designer had specified. It was light, robust, fast and inexpensive – with its "perfectly refined equipment complete with lanterns", it cost 2,000 marks which, however, was not exactly cheap at the time.

The car's top speed was 20 km/h. It was fitted with a wooden frame with iron reinforcements. It had compact dimensions and was 2.25 meters long – 45 centimeters shorter than the Benz three-wheeler – and it looked rather delicate on its wire-spoke wheels. The first version of 1894 tipped the scales at 280 kilograms – as much as 380 kilograms less than the Victoria. The car featured rigid axles front and rear. The double-pivot steering was operated via a vertical steering column in the center of the car.

Benz designed a new, smaller engine for the Velo. As before, this was installed horizontally, developed 1.5 hp at 450/min from a displacement of 1,045 cc and had a bore/stroke of 110/110 millimeters. Initially, Benz used his surface carburetor, to replace it at a later stage by the floating carburetor, which had equally been designed by him. As on the three-wheeler, the engine was started by the turning of the flywheel to chug away at an even rhythm. The fuel tank under the seat bench had a capacity of almost 18 liters – which seems to be plentiful at first glance but is put into perspective by a fuel consumption of some 14 liters per 100 kilometers. The engine, installed under a wooden hood, drove the countershaft with a loose disc, a fixed disc and an integrated differential via two flat belts, with two chains running from the differential to the two rear wheels. As on the larger engines of the three-wheeler and Victoria models, the crankcase was still open; an enclosed housing was not incorporated until 1898. The car had two forward gears but, initially, no reverse. Power was transferred to the road via a two-stage flat-belt transmission. The Velo rolled on wire-spoke wheels with solid rubber tires, 550 millimeters in diameter at the front and 850 millimeters at the rear. The wheelbase was 1,340 millimeters long; the track width was 1,000 millimeters at the front and 1,040 millimeters at the rear.

In 1896, an improved version of the Velo – the "Comfortable" model – became available at a price of 2,500 marks. It came with better equipment in every respect, and pneumatic tires were optionally available at a surcharge of 350 marks (540 mm diameter at the front and 780 mm at the rear). "The car attracted attention with its elegant lines and refined appointments, testifying to the fact that Benz set great store not only by outstanding design and excellent workmanship but also by perfect styling." The engine now developed 2.75 hp at 600/min – with unchanged fuel consumption – and was started by means of a crank, a major relief compared to the previous method. In addition, a planetary gear set with three forward gears and a reverse gear was available at a surcharge of 200 marks. Top speed had been raised to 30 km/h. A contemporary sales brochure listed additional equipment, for instance "a half-top and leather splash guard at 200 marks, and a parasol at 100 marks."

A revised model was introduced in 1900, with an engine developing three horsepower at 700/min from an unchanged displacement of 1,045 cc. The transmission with reverse gear introduced in 1896 now formed part of the standard specifications. In 1901, engine output was raised still further to 3.5 hp.

With his Velo, Karl Benz achieved two things above anything else. First of all, the production volume of more than 1,200 units testified to people's great desire for personal mobility inde-pendent of horses. And secondly, the Velo paved the way which was followed by Benz with his company: building cars in large series.

daimler motor car

1886 Daimler Motor Carriage

In contrast to the Benz Patent Motor Car, Daimler's first automobile was a carriage – without a drawbar but with the conventional drawbar steering. A carriage without horses - the "Horseless Carriage".

In contrast to the Benz Patent Motor Car, Daimler's first automobile was merely a carriage – without a drawbar but with the conventional drawbar steering. It was a carriage without horses.

benz patent-motorwagen

The Benz Patent-Motorwagen (or motorcar), built in 1886, is widely regarded as the first automobile, that is, a vehicle designed to be propelled by a motor. It is important to note, however, that the first automobile fatality on record occurred in 1869, during the preceding era of steam-powered cars.

The vehicle was awarded the German patent, number 37435, for which Karl Benz applied on January 29, 1886. Following official procedures, the date of the application became the patent date for the invention once the patent was granted, which occurred in November of that year.

Although Benz's wife, Bertha financed the developing process, and would hold patent-rights under modern law, as a married woman she wasn't allowed to apply for the patent.

Benz officially unveiled his invention to the public on July 3, 1886 on the Ringstrasse (Ringstraße) in Mannheim, Germany.

Specifications

After developing a successful gasoline-powered two-stroke piston engine in 1873, Benz focused on developing a motorized vehicle while maintaining a career as a designer and manufacturer of stationary engines and their associated parts.

The Benz Patent-Motorwagen was a three-wheeled automobile with a rear-mounted engine. The vehicle contained many new inventions. It was constructed of steel tubing with woodwork panels. The steel-spoked wheels and solid rubber tires were Benz's own design. Steering was by way of a toothed rack that pivoted the unsprung front wheel. Fully elliptic springs were used at the back along with a live axle and chain drive on both sides. A simple belt system served as a single-speed transmission, varying torque between an open disc and drive disc.

The Benz Patent-Motorwagen (or motorcar), built in 1886, is widely regarded as the first automobile, that is, a vehicle designed to be propelled by a motor. It is important to note, however, that the first automobile fatality on record occurred in 1869, during the preceding era of steam-powered cars.

The vehicle was awarded the German patent, number 37435, for which Karl Benz applied on January 29, 1886. Following official procedures, the date of the application became the patent date for the invention once the patent was granted, which occurred in November of that year.