9781422279595

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

In 1899 Emil Jellinek, who would go on to be a Daimler distributor, bought a 28-horsepower, four-cylinder vehicle and used it to compete that year in the Nice Week races. Baron Arthur de Rothschild bought the car when it proved faster than his own. Jellinek in 1900 offered to order three dozen 35-horsepow- er Daimlers if the company made him its exclusive agent for Austria-Hungary, Belgium, France, and the United States. He also had one other condition: being a proud papa, the cars were to be named after his daughter, Mercedes. Daimler agreed, and Jellinek raced the new car during Nice Week 1901, where it reportedly dominated events. For ten years prior to the start of the First World War, all automobiles from Benz & Cie were powered by four-cylinder engines, had chain drives, and were designed for competition. Horsepower (hp) output climbed steadily, from 60 in 1903 to 120 by 1908. The company’s final chain-drive car was the most famous, the “Blitzen Benz,” in which American daredevil Barney Oldfield captured the world land speed record in 1910, exceeding 131 miles per hour (210kph).

This 1927 S-model Gangloff tourer

illustrates how coach- builders could develop very rakish designs on the drop-center frame.

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