Copyright � 2008, fastfivecars. All rights reserved.
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Senin, 30 Juni 2008
New spy pics of the forthcoming SL 65 AMG Black Series
Copyright � 2008, fastfivecars. All rights reserved.
New key visual for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin Spring/Summer 2009
Copyright � 2008, fastfivecars. All rights reserved.
Production Milestones at Mercedes-Benz T�rk
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE- Since 1967, Mercedes-Benz T�rk has produced more than 100,000 trucks and 50,000 buses
- Mercedes-Benz has been the leader in the Turkish bus market for the past 40 years and is also the market leader for trucks over six tons
- Exports to more than 70 countries
At the ceremony, Harald Landmann, head of Daimler Buses, presented the 50,000th bus, a Mercedes-Benz Travego, to Sakarya VIB, one of the largest bus operators in Turkey. The 100,000th truck, a Mercedes-Benz Axor, was presented to Marti Container Services, one of Turkey�s leading logistics companies, with headquarters in Istanbul and Izmir.
Mercedes-Benz T�rk�s production locations in Hosdere and Aksaray are key components of Daimler AG�s development and production network. The vehicles manufactured at these sites are exported to more than 70 countries, including many in Western Europe. The company currently exports 40 percent of the trucks it produces and even 78 percent of the buses. In his speech at the ceremony, Landmann said: �These production milestones show that the decision to invest in Turkey at such an early date was right. The country offers reliable political and economic conditions and ensures very high quality standards.With its locations in Aksaray and Hosdere, Mercedes-Benz T�rk therefore serves as an important component of our company�s production network, which allows us to manufacture flexibly and competitively over the long-term.�
Since its founding, Mercedes-Benz T�rk has also made a major contribution to Turkey�s economic development. The company is now not only Turkey�s number one exporter of commercial vehicles, but also one of the largest capital investors in the country. To ensure that it can continue to meet customer demands, the company is focusing its efforts on increasing the efficiency of its production processes and on enhancing the quality and sophistication of its products.
Copyright � 2008, fastfivecars. All rights reserved.
Daimler Heritage:TOPICS FOR AUGUST 2008
Preview August 2008
PREVIEW OF ANNIVERSARIES 2008
PREVIEW OF ANNIVERSARIES 2008
August 1888 � 120 years ago:
Joined by her two sons Eugen and Richard, Bertha Benz undertakes the first car journey of any considerable distance in automotive history. A three-wheeler Benz patent motor car takes her from Mannheim to Pforzheim via Heidelberg, Bruchsal and Durlach, returning via Bretten and Bruchsal.
August 29, - September 5, 1948 � 60 years ago:
As early as the first agricultural fair after the end of World War II, Daimler-Benz impressed the expert world with the unparalleled concept of the Unimog, which comprised a chassis with two rigid axles � permitting a high degree of articulation - and coil springs, located by thrust arms and radius rods, with four-wheel drive and four equal-sized wheels. Production initially started at B�hringer, a mechanical engineering factory in G�ppingen, in 1948. After 600 units built, production was relocated to the Gaggenau factory of Daimler-Benz in 1951.
Other memorable dates:
August 15, 1883 � 125 years ago: The Kurtz bell-foundry in Stuttgart supplies Gottlieb Daimler with cast-iron components for his first internal combustion engine with horizontal cylinder. This first � comparatively high-speed � trial engine soon goes into testing.
August 1958 � 50 years ago: Newly founded Mercedes-Benz Sales, Inc. (MBS) � a subsidiary company of Studebaker-Packard based in South Bend, Indiana � assumes responsibility for Mercedes-Benz passenger car sales in the USA. The move heralds a revival in the brand's US sales figures.
Fall 1948: Daimler-Benz launches the Unimog at the German Agricultural Show in Frankfurt
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE- Jack-of-all-trades
- Worldwide success
- Permanently refined concept
Stuttgart, Germany, Jul 01, 2008 - It had been devised as an implement that was to be superior to conventional tractors and simplify the farmer's work to the greatest possible extent. That's what the former head of aeroengine design at Daimler-Benz, Albert Friedrich, had had in mind � being out of a job after the war but burning for action. At the time, the project gained special significance through the announcement of the Morgenthau plan according to which the former German Reich was to be turned into an agrarian nation.
Name and concept rolled into one
The history of the name alone indicates that the result was a vehicle in a very special format. The Unimog achieved what market strategists can only dream of: in next to no time, the individual product name was used for the entire category of vehicles. Originally devised as a catchy acronym for a mouthful, "Universalmotorger�t" ('universally applicable motorized implement'), the name "Unimog" is today a concept in its own right, whose origin occasionally has to be called back to mind to be understood. Small wonder, therefore, that the visitors to the German Agricultural Show in the fall of 1948 were enthusiastic about the newly introduced vehicle and seized the occasion: the Unimog stand team brought back 150 spontaneously placed Unimog orders.
The ingenious feat of the Unimog's fathers in the fall of 1948 is also revealed by the fact that a large number of the archetype Unimog's typical features have been retained to this day: four equal-sized wheels, all-wheel drive with differential locks, portal axles for offroad operation, power take-offs front and rear and a small platform for carrying loads and implements.
A vehicle for all seasons
In the course of the years, the application spectrum of the vehicle, originally designed for agriculture, expanded continuously. The 25 hp post-war newcomer was bursting with talents which just waited to be discovered: whether forestry or municipal authorities, fire brigades or armed forces, energy industry or mineral oil exploration teams in the desert � the more specific the job on hand, the fewer are the alternatives to the Unimog.
Always up to date
Today, the extensive Unimog family is structured into six model series which can be allocated to two different application spectrums. The U 3000, U 4000 and U 5000 series introduced in 2002 stand out for their exemplary offroad mobility and are first and foremost designed for fire brigades (especially for fighting forest fires), for disaster aid and as basic chassis for expedition vehicles as well as for servicing and maintenance in the most difficult terrain.
These models ideally complement the U 300, U 400 and U 500 series introduced in the spring of 2000. These, in turn, were designed as implement carriers, first and foremost for public service facilities, municipal subcontractors, the construction and energy industries as well as works transport.
Copyright � 2008, fastfivecars. All rights reserved.
Bertha Benz and the world�s first long-distance trip in an automobile - PART III
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASEThe Benz Patent Motor Car from 1888 � The world�s oldest original car
- A Benz Patent Motor Car from the year 1888, retained in its original condition, is temporary exhibit in the Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart
- Owned by the Science Museum in London since 1913
- A car that competed in rallies until the 1950s
Stuttgart/Mannheim, Germany, Jul 01, 2008 - The Benz Patent Motor Car is considered to be the world�s first automobile. One specimen of 1888 which is retained in its original condition is hosted until November 2008 at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
Carl Benz introduced the Patent Motor Car in 1886 and subsequently built several units of this three-wheeler, about 25 vehicles in total. The Model I was the original Patent Motor Car. It featured wire wheels and a number of design details adopted from advanced contemporary bicycle manufacture.
The modified Model II also was a three-wheeler originally but was converted to four wheels for test purposes. The car featured axle pivot steering which was also tested on this car � another significant step towards the modern automobile. It is assumed that just one unit was built of this model.
But Model III turns out to be the first automobile, of which a small series with varying bodywork versions is sold. The customer was, for instance, able to opt for a folding roof or for an additional vis-�-vis seat bench and thus for a total of four seats. The car had wheels with wooden spokes; the two driven rear wheels (diameter: approx. 125 centimeters/49.2 inches) had steel linings while the steered front wheel (diameter: 80 centimeters/31.5 inches) was lined with solid rubber. The wheelbase was some 1.58 meters (62.2 inches) long and the track width was 1.25 meters (49.2 inches).
Benz had difficulties in marketing his cars � until Frenchman Emile Roger from Paris set up the first foreign sales office. The Patent Motor Car Model III, which is today owned by the London Science Museum, was supplied to Roger before being sold to England, as proved by a badge on the vehicle. It is assumed that it was built by Benz in 1888 and displayed at an exhibition of prime movers and working machines at the Isartor city gate in Munich in the same year. This unit is the oldest Benz Patent Motor Car that has been retained in its original condition, and it is thus the oldest original automobile. What�s more, it is most likely the first gasoline-engined vehicle that was operated in England. It is fitted with the vis-�-vis seat bench and originally also featured a folding leather roof. Remarkable is a most innovative design feature which makes this type different to the original from 1886: The body is mounted on a separate frame which sits on the chassis. That construction simplified the work of the body maker.
The person to whom Roger sold the car is unknown. It can, however, safely be assumed that Roger displayed the Model III at the 1889 World Fair in Paris. Quite likely, the English buyer saw the car in Paris and took the technical miracle with him to the island. The Science Museum acquired the car in 1913 at a price of five pounds from a Miss E. B. Bath in King�s Lynn, Norfolk. Miss Bath had received the Benz from her brother who had been working in the motor industry. The acquisition was handled by Mr. E. A. Forward from the Science Museum. In a letter written in April 1913, he advised the museum board to buy the car: �This car is a valuable historical relic, and I regard it as a great find. [�] I should not have thought it possible to obtain one anywhere, and am very much surprised to find one in this country.� Forward very accurately identified the car�s position in Benz and automotive history and arrived at the following conclusion: �The work of Carl Benz, in the development of the modern motor car, was so important, equal in fact to that of Daimler himself, that we should be fully justified in acquiring an example of this first type of vehicle.�
Forward looked after the vehicle in subsequent years and retained it in ready-to-drive condition most of the time. In 1936, Forward even paraded the car outside the museum once a week to demonstrate the properties of the Patent Motor Car. To this end, the car obtained permanent registration and the number plate �A 250�.
In 1957, the car was completely overhauled � including its mechanical parts, bodywork, soft-top and finish in the original color � in the museum�s own workshop. It was subsequently run in and tested again and registered by the museum for the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run organized by the Royal Automobile Club in 1957 � a rally for which only vehicles up until production year 1905 were eligible. It had been expected that the car would have to be pushed on steep inclines but this was not the case, at least not before the incline outside Purley. There, the brakes failed in a rainstorm, and the front-wheel fork was damaged in a collision with another vehicle, with the result that the Benz had to be withdrawn. As disappointing as this may have been, the car had until then covered some 22 kilometers (13.6 miles) at an average speed of 12 km/h (7.4 mph) without a hitch. This raised hopes with respect to more successful participation in the event one year later. The damage was repaired in the museum�s workshop, and the Paten Motor Car was equipped with a band brake just for this rally.
�At 7 a.m. on 2nd November, 1958, the Benz set out from Hyde Park for Brighton in traditionally filthy weather. By 8.20 a.m. the top of Purley Hill was reached without pause; this initial 13.5 miles was thus covered at an average speed of 10 mph.� The Benz mastered other inclines without problem � on several occasions, the passenger had to alight before uphill stretches; on others, the car had to be pushed carefully on downhill stretches. The car had to stop four times for refueling and topping up water, and once for replacing the main drive belt. A report by a Mr. Caunter had this to say: �The finish at Madeira Drive [in Brighton] was reached at 2.40 p.m.� � without a single problem. The Benz Patent Motor Car had covered the distance of some 90 kilometers (56 miles) in a driving time of six hours and 25 minutes, at an average speed of 14 km/h (8.6 mph) � the remaining time had been taken up by service stops. In his report, Mr. Caunter complained about the steering and the brakes, especially on downhill stretches. By contrast, he assessed the clutch and the two-speed gearbox as highly effective and considered the car to be reliable overall. After this rally, the Patent Motor Car became an exhibit in the Science Museum�s permanent exhibition.
Incidentally, in September 1958, shortly before the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, the car returned to Munich at the invitation of the German Museum, where it formed part of the celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of Daimler-Benz AG, which included a parade of veteran and vintage cars through the city. A Carl Benz Memorial was unveiled on Oskar-von-Miller-Ring, and the German Museum admitted Carl Benz to its Hall of Fame. After the celebrations, the Science Museum�s Patent Motor Car was displayed in the German Museum for two weeks. The German Museum itself owns the very first Patent Motor Car from Carl Benz. However, this car was reconstructed from original parts by Benz & Cie around 1900. After testing, the car, built in 1886, had partly been disassembled, and the engine had been used for driving a machine for several years. In 1906, the restored motor car arrived in Munich to become the first automobile to be displayed in the first German engineering museum.
The engineering of the Benz Patent Motor Car Model III
The single-cylinder four-stroke engine is fitted in a horizontal position above the rear axle (displacement: 2.0 liters). In its original specification, it developed an output of 2 hp (1.5 kW) at 250 rpm. On the Science Museum�s vehicle, slightly different values were measured. At the time of its restoration in 1957, the experts found out that the engine�s compression ratio was 3:1, and engine speed was as high as 450 rpm. This suggested an engine output of some 3 hp (2.2 kW).
The crankshaft is installed vertically because in designing the car, Carl Benz had assumed that the rotary movement of a vertically arranged flywheel would adversely affect the vehicle�s steerability � a design that was abandoned in 1890. The flywheel is fitted at the lower end of the crankshaft and mounted on a transverse chassis member. At the upper end of the crankshaft, a helically geared pinion drives a shaft via an identical, vertically arranged pinion.
This shaft is fitted with a belt pulley at its end, which in turn is connected to the gear selection mechanism. The car has two gears which are engaged by means of chains and permit speeds of 8 and 16 km/h (5 and 10 mph), respectively. From the same shaft, the camshaft operating the valves and the ignition is driven via a parallel mechanism at half the speed. A surface carburetor produces the explosive gas/air mixture, and the fuel tank is located under the rear seat bench. A spark plug generates the ignition spark which derives its electric energy from an ignition coil and a battery. The single-cylinder engine is water-cooled: the water is channeled from a reservoir (equally located under the rear seat bench) into the cylinder housing where it evaporates � a conventional principle before the advent of recirculation cooling in automotive engineering.
The single front wheel is steered by means of a vertically mounted rotary crank. Two steel tubes connect the control head with the rear axle and thus form a sub-frame on which three fully elliptic leaf springs (the front spring being mounted transversely to the direction of travel) decouple the wooden bodywork from the wheels. The chassis is made of iron tubing, and on cars with a vis-�-vis seat bench it is drawn upwards at the front end. The engine is mounted on a transverse T-type beam. The brakes act on the rear wheels and are lined with wood; they are activated via a crank mechanism whose linkage runs parallel to the gearshift lever. The car is steered from the rear seat bench.
Copyright � 2008, fastfivecars. All rights reserved.
Bertha Benz and the world�s first long-distance trip in an automobile - PART II
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASEBertha Benz � The Woman behind the Automotive Revolution
Stuttgart/Mannheim, Germany, Jul 01, 2008 - Bertha Benz was a strong-willed, energetic woman who played a subordinate role in the patriarchal society of the German Empire in appearances only. She encouraged her often self-doubting, obstinate and sullen husband Carl Benz in her unique way, pushing him to continue time and time again after setbacks, and stood by him for nearly 60 years. She was a woman who shared her husband�s far-reaching technical visions completely and made many sacrifices as a result. Without Bertha Benz, there would never have been a Benz company in Mannheim.
C�cilie Bertha was born on May 3, 1849 in Pforzheim, the daughter of Auguste Friederike and Karl Friedrich Ringer. She was the third of nine children in the Ringer family. Her father had saved some money as a carpenter and master builder in Pforzheim, which enabled his children, including his daughters, to get a good education. Bertha went to boarding school in Pforzheim for ten years.
In the summer of 1870, she met the engineer Carl Benz. The two fell in love and soon began making big plans. They both agreed that they did not want to stay in Pforzheim.
So Carl Benz set up shop in Mannheim. The wedding was to take place and Bertha would join him as soon as he could make a living there. He set up a mechanical workshop in T6/11 � as the distinctive Mannheim address format stated - with August Ritter but the two men were soon at odds with one another. When Bertha realized the problems that her fianc� was facing during one of his visits to Pforzheim, she persuaded her father to pay him her dowry before the wedding and an advance on her inheritance so that Carl could buy out his companion.
27-year old Carl Benz and 23-year old Bertha Ringer married in Pforzheim on July 20, 1872. They first rented a home in Mannheim but Carl soon built them their own apartment with two rooms and a kitchen onto the workshop. When their first son Eugen was born on May 1, 1873, the small family was overjoyed � but also deep in debt.
The next 15 years were dominated by big financial problems, as Carl needed more money for his workshop equipment and his inventions than the small business could provide. In the meantime, the family was expanding: their second son, Richard, was born on October 21, 1874. Three years later, on July 25, 1877, the family was forced to sell all the workshop equipment, shortly before Bertha brought their daughter Klara into the world just a week later. Despite the great worries, Bertha continued to stand by her husband, often quite literally, in the workshop. Here, the couple held many discussions and Bertha acquired technical knowledge. Witnesses of the time later reported that she knew the engines and the cars nearly as well as her husband.
In 1878, Carl Benz was fiddling with his latest invention: a machine for commercial use. But there were problems with the new engine. On New Year�s Eve, when the children were in bed, Carl and Bertha started the two-stroke engine together � and it started running, a noise that was far lovelier than any bells ringing in the New Year.
In the spring of 1882, shortly after the birth of their fourth child, Thilde, they were in financial difficulties once again. This led to the founding of the Mannheim petrol engine factory together with solvent partners. After a short while, Carl Benz fell out with these partners, who did not share his visions of an automobile. Disappointed, he left the company after three months in January 1883 � once again, the family had nothing.
In 1883, Carl Benz set up �Benz & Cie. Rheinische Gasmotorenfabrik Mannheim� with new partners and set about developing his automobile. Bertha regularly sat alongside Carl during the first test drives in 1886, not just to get out and push when it stopped again: she was also his lucky charm. Developing the new car took lots of time and cost lots of money; Carl Benz wondered if the car was suitable for long trips at all. Once again, Bertha showed her husband that she had unshakeable faith in him and in his abilities.
In August 1888, she secretly took her sons out in the car, defying the official driving ban without further ado, drove the 180 kilometers to Pforzheim and back � and returned with suggested improvements for further development.
The success that they desired gradually began to arrive. Following the company�s move to Waldhofstra�e, the family got more space � living above the offices. In March 1890, the youngest of the family, Ellen, was born. Test drives with newly-developed cars were family excursions on Sundays, with not only the sons but often the daughters at the wheel.
In 1903, Carl Benz left his company in Mannheim; the family relocated to Ladenburg. Together with his sons, Carl Benz set up the �Carl Benz S�hne� factory in 1906, which later produced its own automobiles from 1908 onwards. In the meantime, Bertha was negotiating with architects regarding the conversion of the villa that she acquired in 1905.
In the 1920s, the automobile inventor was awarded many distinctions, always with his wife at his side.
Carl Benz died on April 4, 1929. Bertha then received a lot of attention. She was especially delighted when she was named honorary senator of the Technische Universit�t Karlsruhe to mark her 95th birthday. Two days later, on May 5, 1944, Bertha Benz, whose important role in the automotive revolution continues to be underrated to the present day, died.
Copyright � 2008, fastfivecars. All rights reserved.
Bertha Benz and the world�s first long-distance trip in an automobile - PART I
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
August 1888: Bertha Benz takes world�s first long-distance trip in an automobile
August 1888: Bertha Benz takes world�s first long-distance trip in an automobile
- The Benz Patent Motor Car covers the 180-kilometer trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back without any problems
- The pioneering activity paves the way for the automobile
Stuttgart/Mannheim, Germany, Jul 01, 2008 - In August 1888, Bertha Benz drove from Mannheim to Pforzheim with her two sons in the Patent Motor Car built by her husband Carl Benz. A few days later, she returned to Mannheim. This first long-distance trip in the history of the automobile was a pioneering undertaking. For the most part, it all ran smoothly: there were only a few minor technical problems on route, which were all solved. An original Model III Patent Motor Car, identical in construction, still exists today and is the world�s oldest remaining Benz automobile, which dates back to 1888.
Carl Benz was a magnificent technician. In 1886, he applied for a patent for his motor car � the world�s first automobile and therefore an epoch-making innovation. However, his business acumen was not so strong. His wife Bertha bravely and enthusiastically stood by his side: she supported her husband in many ways, recognized the importance of his invention at an early stage and firmly believed that it would be a success. The only thing lacking was the definite proof that the vehicle was reliable and could also master long-distance routes.
Bertha Benz decided to go on a lengthy test drive to encourage her husband and to prove to him the capability and sustainability of his invention � albeit without telling him about it beforehand. She already had a destination for her drive in mind: Pforzheim, her place of birth.
At the beginning of August, when the school vacation began, it was time. Bertha Benz let her sons Eugen and Richard into her plan. Mother and sons carefully made their way to the factory early in the morning. They quietly pushed the vehicle out of the workshop and only started it once it was a safe distance away from the house � by turning the horizontal flywheel. As the story goes, she left a note on the kitchen table for Carl, who was still asleep, with an openly-worded message that she was on her way to Pforzheim � with not a word about the �test drive�. He later noticed that the motor car was missing and realized that his loved ones were not travelling by train.
Petrol is available from chemists
Once the three had finally got the car rolling, they realized that they did not know how to get to Pforzheim. So they decided to stick to the places and roads that they knew and initially headed towards Weinheim. In Weinheim, they headed south, to Wiesloch. �Ligroin� supplies, as petrol was known at the time, was a great source of concern, as the 4.5-liter supply in the carburetor � there was no gas tank yet � was running ominously low. Ligroin was available from chemists back then. The town pharmacy in Wiesloch, which still exists today and claims to be the world�s first gas station, was able to help them. The long-distance travelers later bought more ligroin in Langenbr�cken and Bruchsal during their journey.
Cooling the engine was even more of a worry than finding fuel. The engine was cooled using the evaporation of water according to the thermosiphon system. The water supply was topped up at every opportunity: at public houses, from streams or, when there was no other choice, from a ditch. There were no punctures because the rear wheels had iron rings and the front wheel was covered in solid rubber.
Extra muscle power helps on hills
From Wiesloch, the journey continued via Bruchsal and Durlach, where it headed east, out of the Rhine Valley and into the �hills�. The one-cylinder engine�s output of around 2.5 hp (1.8 kW) at 500 rpm and its two gears were certainly not enough to conquer big gradients. Bertha Benz and her sons Eugen and Richard had to get out and push again.
Their efforts going uphill were interspersed with an increased rush of adrenaline when driving downhill. The shoe brake, which was operated by hand using a lever at the side of the vehicle and acted on both rear wheels, could only slow down the 360-kilogram vehicle with the utmost effort. The brake shoes wore out quickly but even here Bertha knew what to do. On the way back, she stopped in Bauschlott and had a cobbler cover the brake shoes with leather � and thus invented the brake lining at the same time.
Bertha Benz also had to use her own skills to fix any small problems, whether it was cleaning the blocked fuel line using a hat pin or insulating the worn-through ignition wire with the help of a garter.
News for Carl Benz
We know that the long-distance travelers kept Carl Benz, who was waiting at home, up-to-date with the progress of their journey by sending several telegrams, the first of which was sent from Bruchsal. But none of the telegram messages remain.
It was not only the Patent Motor Car Model III that ran out of steam near the village of Wilferdingen with its steep hills; so did the three motorists. Two young farm hands, who were initially wary of the whole thing, finally stepped in to help. This final challenge was thus also overcome; from now on, it was quickly on to Pforzheim via Br�tzingen. They reached their destination at dusk. The first leg of the adventurous journey in an automobile had been completed. A few days later, the three long-distance travelers began the return journey to Mannheim. This time, the route was shorter and headed almost in a straight line via Bauschlott, Bretten, Bruchsal, Hockenheim and Schwetzingen to Mannheim. This journey also went smoothly for the now experienced motorists.
Proof of sustainability
By completing the first long-distance journey in automotive history, Bertha Benz not only proved to her husband, as she planned, but also to many skeptics that the automobile had a big future ahead. She had demonstrated that the motor car was fit for purpose on this 180-kilometer journey (there and back). The rise of the later Benz & Cie. Rheinische Gasmotorenfabrik AG, Mannheim, to become the biggest automotive factory in the world would barely have been imaginable had it not been for her daringness � and that of her sons.
Incidentally, the Benz Patent Motor Car Model III was given another gear and a more effective brake following the findings of the �test drive�. It thus also became clear for the first time that testing and trying out new automobile models under difficult conditions was essential.
The Patent Motor Car
Benz presented the Patent Motor Car, the world�s first automobile, in 1886. By 1894, 25 vehicles, with engines ranging from 1.5 to 3 hp (1.1 to 2.2 kW) had been built.
The Model I was the original Patent Motor Car. It had steel spoke wheels and other design details that allude to the cutting-edge bicycle constructions of the time.
The modified Model II was originally also a three-wheel vehicle but was then converted to a four wheeler for test purposes. The vehicle, including the Ackerman steering that was trialed in it, was another important step towards the modern automobile. There was probably only one such version.
The Model III was the first automobile to be sold in small production runs. There were various add-on parts. Customers could opt for an additional vis-�-vis seat bench and therefore choose a total of four seats or opt for a folding top. The vehicle had wooden spoke wheels. The powered rear wheels (diameter: around 125 centimeters) were ringed with steel, whilst the controllable front wheel (diameter: 80 centimeter) was covered with solid rubber. The wheelbase was around 1.58 meters and the wheel track 1.25 meters.
It was not easy for Carl Benz to market his Patent Motor Car � until the Frenchman Emile Roger from Paris set up the first sales outlet abroad. As a tag on the vehicle states, a Patent Motor Car Model III, which still exists today, was sent to England via Roger. It was probably built by Benz in 1888 and was showcased at the Isartor in Munich during the power and work machine exhibition. This vehicle is identical to the one that Bertha Benz and her sons traveled in on the world�s first long-distance automobile journey. It is the oldest Benz Patent Motor Car still in original condition and therefore the oldest Benz automotive. The vehicle now belongs to the Science Museum in London.
Technical specifications of the Benz Patent Motor Car Model III
Construction: open-top three wheeler
Engine: one-cylinder, four-stroke engine
Displacement: 1660 cm� Output: 2.5 hp (1.8 kW) at 500 rpm
Carburetor: Benz surface carburetor
Valves: automatic intake valve, controlled exhaust valve
Cooling system: water/thermosiphon cooling system
Lubrication: drip-feed lubricator and grease cap
Ignition: electric high voltage buzzer ignition
Tank: 4.5 liters in the carburetor
Starter: turning the flywheel
Displacement: 1660 cm� Output: 2.5 hp (1.8 kW) at 500 rpm
Carburetor: Benz surface carburetor
Valves: automatic intake valve, controlled exhaust valve
Cooling system: water/thermosiphon cooling system
Lubrication: drip-feed lubricator and grease cap
Ignition: electric high voltage buzzer ignition
Tank: 4.5 liters in the carburetor
Starter: turning the flywheel
Transmission
Leather straps from the engine to the cone pulley, differential, 1 chain for each rear wheel
Clutch: none
Gearbox: two-speed fixed disc, 2 forward gears
Gear changes: hand lever beneath the steering crank to push the strap between the discs
Leather straps from the engine to the cone pulley, differential, 1 chain for each rear wheel
Clutch: none
Gearbox: two-speed fixed disc, 2 forward gears
Gear changes: hand lever beneath the steering crank to push the strap between the discs
Suspension
Frame: steel pipe
Front-wheel suspension: front wheel in control fork, without springs
Rear-wheel suspension: live axle, fully-elliptical springs
Steering: rack steering, steering crank in the center of the car
Hand brake: wooden shoe brake/rear tires
Footbrake: none
Lubrication: grease caps
Frame: steel pipe
Front-wheel suspension: front wheel in control fork, without springs
Rear-wheel suspension: live axle, fully-elliptical springs
Steering: rack steering, steering crank in the center of the car
Hand brake: wooden shoe brake/rear tires
Footbrake: none
Lubrication: grease caps
General data
Dimensions: 2700 x 1400 x 1450 mm
Wheelbase: 1575 mm
Wheel track: rear 1250 mm
Wheels: wooden spokes, diameter, front: 800 mm, rear: 1125 mm
Tires: front: solid rubber or iron; rear: iron
Weight: 360 kg
V-max: 16 km/h
Fuel consumption: approx. 10 liters for every 100 kilometers
Dimensions: 2700 x 1400 x 1450 mm
Wheelbase: 1575 mm
Wheel track: rear 1250 mm
Wheels: wooden spokes, diameter, front: 800 mm, rear: 1125 mm
Tires: front: solid rubber or iron; rear: iron
Weight: 360 kg
V-max: 16 km/h
Fuel consumption: approx. 10 liters for every 100 kilometers
Copyright � 2008, fastfivecars. All rights reserved.
GLK Configurator
The Car Configurator for the new GLK-Klasse is 'up and going' on www.mercedes-benz.de . Take your time and configure your dream GLK by following the link displayed below:
Mercedes-Benz GLK-Klasse Configurator
Enjoy!
Copyright � 2008, fastfivecars. All rights reserved.
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