9781422279595

M E R C E D E S - B E N Z

Offerings from competitors paled in comparison, and this was no different for Benz & Cie. Sales fell, and Carl left the company to his sons, Richard and Eugen, who went to work creating a more modern vehicle. This became the Parsifal of 1903, and with its vertical, two-cylinder engine and shaft drive, it was intended to provide direct competition for the Mercedes. Build quality was suspect, however; Richard and Eugen left, and Carl returned to the company. For the next ten years, all automobiles from Benz & Cie were powered by four-cylinder engines, had chain drives, and were designed for competition. The company’s final chain-drive car, the “Blitzen Benz,” proved to be its best known, following Barney Oldfield’s 1910 record run. Mercedes, meanwhile, would outfit its cars from 1910 to 1919 with the Knight sleeve-valve engine.

A 1912 Mercedes 37/90, the Prince

Henry Torpedo, nicely illustrates the chain- drive mechanism that was typical of Mercedes motorcars of the period.

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