The Mercedes (german: Mercedes ) was a radical early car model designed in 1901 by
Wilhelm Maybach
Wilhelm Maybach (; 9 February 1846 – 29 December 1929) was an early German engine designer and industrialist. During the 1890s he was hailed in France, then the world centre for car production, as the "King of Designers".
From the late 19th ce ...
and
Paul Daimler
Paul Daimler (13 September 1869 – 15 December 1945) was a German mechanical engineer who designed automobiles. He was the eldest child of Gottlieb Daimler who founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and (with Wilhelm Maybach) invented the pet ...
, for
Emil Jellinek
Emil Jellinek, known after 1903 as Emil Jellinek-Mercedes (6 April 1853 – 21 January 1918) was a wealthy European automobile entrepreneur with Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG), responsible in 1900 for commissioning the first modern automobile ...
. Produced in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, Germany, by
Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft
Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (abbreviated as DMG, also known as ''Daimler Motors Corporation'') was a German engineering company and later automobile manufacturer, in operation from 1890 until 1926. Founded by Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900) and ...
(DMG), it began the
Mercedes line of cars (since 1926 re-branded
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
). Its name is derived from the
power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may a ...
of the engine, , approximately .
A significant advancement over the previous generation of automobiles, which were modified
stagecoach
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
es, the Mercedes is regarded as the first modern car. It was equipped with a powerful
petrol engine
A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...
, it was both wider and larger with a tailored steel
chassis
A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
, and its
center of mass
In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force may ...
was near the ground. Originally designed as a racing car, the Mercedes was further developed for normal road use.
Historical background
In the 19th century,
Wilhelm Maybach
Wilhelm Maybach (; 9 February 1846 – 29 December 1929) was an early German engine designer and industrialist. During the 1890s he was hailed in France, then the world centre for car production, as the "King of Designers".
From the late 19th ce ...
's career as an industrial designer had been with
Gottlieb Daimler
Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist born in Schorndorf (Kingdom of Württemberg, a federal state of the German Confederation), in what is now Germany. He was a ...
in their
Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's ...
workshop (near
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
), at which together they had pioneered the petrol engine production and were responsible for designing and making some of the world's first automobiles. By 1900, Maybach was the
Chief Engineer
A chief engineer, commonly referred to as "ChEng" or "Chief", is the most senior engine officer of an engine department on a ship, typically a merchant ship, and holds overall leadership and the responsibility of that department..Chief engineer's ...
within the ''Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft'' (DMG), which had been an expansion of their previous company that originated from their small workshop. He never got along with the new capitalist board, and later left to join
Ferdinand von Zeppelin
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (german: Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin; 8 July 1838 – 8 March 1917) was a German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships. His name soon became synonymous with airships a ...
. In 1900, Gottlieb Daimler died and his son
Paul Daimler
Paul Daimler (13 September 1869 – 15 December 1945) was a German mechanical engineer who designed automobiles. He was the eldest child of Gottlieb Daimler who founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and (with Wilhelm Maybach) invented the pet ...
had taken his place beside Maybach.
Origin of the name "Mercedes"
Emil Jellinek
Emil Jellinek, known after 1903 as Emil Jellinek-Mercedes (6 April 1853 – 21 January 1918) was a wealthy European automobile entrepreneur with Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG), responsible in 1900 for commissioning the first modern automobile ...
was a wealthy Austrian businessman and Austro-Hungarian diplomat living in
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
on the
French Riviera
The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...
. His daughter
Adriana Manuela Ramona Jellinek
Adriana, also spelled Adrianna, is a Latin name and feminine form of Adrian. It originates from present day Italy.
Translations
*Arabic: أدريان
* Belorussian: Адрыяна (Adryjana)
*Bulgarian: Адриана (Adriana)
*Chinese Simplifi ...
, 10 years old at the car's construction, was given the pet name "Mercédès". Jellinek used to name his possessions after her, such as his mansions, the automobiles he sold, his racing car team, etc.. He himself was often known as ''Monsieur Mercedes''.
As an avid fan of the ''DMG'' brand, Jellinek had signed up two DMG-Phoenix cars for competing in the ''Nice-La Turbie'' race on 30 March 1900, introducing the ''Mercedes'' name for both his racing team and its cars. A tragedy ensued when Wilhelm Bauer, the chief mechanic of DMG, raced one of the cars and was killed after the first curve of the race. Consequently, DMG canceled all further involvement in
motorsport
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
.
Nonetheless, Jellinek persuaded DMG to design a new model for competing again. He insisted that the powerful engine should be developed by both Maybach and Paul Daimler and be named ''Daimler-Mercedes'', after his daughter. This wish was granted because the ''Daimler'' brand of the DMG had been already conceded to the French ''
Panhard
Panhard was a French motor vehicle manufacturer that began as one of the first makers of automobiles. It was a manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its final incarnation, now owned by Renault Trucks Defense, was formed ...
'' carmaker for all France.
Development
Jellinek specified revolutionary improvements. Unlike the previous generation of cars, unstable motorized coaches of narrow high bodies which were so prone to overturn, the novel ''Mercedes'' should be longer, wider, and of a lower center of gravity. Also it would have a light steel body and strong chassis, onto which the engine would be firmly fixed near the ground and lowering the car's center of gravity. 36 of these cars would be delivered, for the large sum of .
Over the following months of 1900 Jellinek oversaw the process closely, at first through daily
telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
s, and subsequently, by traveling personally. Maybach tested the new car for the first time on 22 November and Jellinek received his first delivery on 22 December 1900.
In January 1901, Emil Jellinek's Mercedes team tested six of the new Mercedes in the ''
Pau Grand Prix
The Pau Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Pau) is a motor race held in Pau, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of southwestern France. The French Grand Prix was held at Pau in 1930, leading to the annual Pau Grand Prix being inaugurat ...
'', but the racecar was of a disappointing performance by multiple technical complications and enduring just for few laps. However, in the ''Nice-La Turbie'' event of March 1901, it was much different. Jellinek participated through five Mercedes and the German driver Wilhelm Werner. The cars dominated the race from start to finish with a record average speed of ), beating the previous ) and reaching top speeds of ). Those results easily outclassed all other competing cars in any capacity. The automotive world was so astonished that
Paul Meyan
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
, director of the French Automobile Club, stated: "We have entered the Mercedes era". Eventually, the road car achieved typical speeds of ). The racing version could exceed .
In Stuttgart, DMG mounted two additional back seats on the Mercedes , transforming it for a family car. Between March and August 1901, it manufactured two more Mercedes models, the and the . The Mercedes was so successful that the production lines of the DMG ran at full capacity. The Mercedes trademark was used on DMG production automobiles from 23 June 1902. It was formally registered on 26 September 1902.
In June 1903, Emil Jellinek changed his own name to Jellinek-Mercedes, stating: "This is probably the first time that a father has taken his daughter's name".
Technical description
![Mercedes 35hp 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Mercedes_35hp_01.jpg)
Dimensions
The Mercedes had a
wheelbase
In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...
of and a
track
Track or Tracks may refer to:
Routes or imprints
* Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity
* Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across
* Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
of . The total weight was also dramatically reduced to by making the main
chassis
A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
frame
A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent.
Frame and FRAME may also refer to:
Physical objects
In building construction
*Framing (con ...
of pressed steel of carefully designed U-shaped cross section.
The relatively light engine with was mounted over the front
axle
An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...
without any extra subframes, so its center of gravity was close to the ground.
Running gear
The wooden wheels of the Mercedes were non-removable, featuring 12
spoke
A spoke is one of some number of rods radiating from the center of a wheel (the hub where the axle connects), connecting the hub with the round traction surface.
The term originally referred to portions of a log that had been riven (split l ...
s, steel covers and pneumatic
tire
A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
s: tall, wide in front, and tall, wide in the rear.
There were two braking systems, one hand operated and the other by foot. The main brake was the
hand brake
In road vehicles, the parking brake, also known as a handbrake or emergency brake (e-brake), is a mechanism used to keep the vehicle securely motionless when parked. Parking brakes often consist of a cable connected to two wheel brakes, which is ...
which acted on the rear wheels which had
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
. The secondary,
foot brake
The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...
, acted on the chain drive's intermediate shaft and was
water-cooled
Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant
Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and non ...
.
Both axles were rigid, equipped with semi-elliptic
springs. The steering-axles were designed to minimise transmission of road shocks to the driver. The
steering column
The automotive steering column is a device intended primarily for connecting the steering wheel to the steering mechanism.
Secondary functions
A steering column may also perform the following secondary functions:
*energy dissipation management ...
was inclined backwards unlike the vertical shaft on many of its contemporaries.
The engine of the Mercedes was at the front of the car driving the rear wheels through a large
roller chain
Roller chain or bush roller chain is the type of chain drive most commonly used for transmission of mechanical power on many kinds of domestic, industrial and agricultural machinery, including conveyors, wire- and tube-drawing machines, printi ...
. The
gearshift
A gear stick (rarely spelled ''gearstick''), gear lever (both UK English), gearshift or shifter (both U.S. English), more formally known as a transmission lever, is a metal lever attached to the transmission of an automobile. The term ''gear sti ...
was at the driver's right side, featuring a gate change system with four forward speeds and a reverse gear. The drum like compact
clutch
A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...
system was attached to the
flywheel
A flywheel is a mechanical device which uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy; a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, ass ...
. The flywheel consisted of a self-adjustable coil spring made up of wound spring steel. The tension at which the clutch operated was regulated by a conical cam.
Engine
The main bearings were made of
magnalium
Magnalium is an aluminium alloy with 5% magnesium and 95% aluminum.
Properties
Alloys with small amounts of magnesium (about 5%) exhibit greater strength, greater corrosion resistance, and lower density than pure aluminium. Such alloys are also mo ...
, an
aluminium alloy
An aluminium alloy (or aluminum alloy; see spelling differences) is an alloy in which aluminium (Al) is the predominant metal. The typical alloying elements are copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon, tin, nickel and zinc. There are two principal ...
with 5%
magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...
. The
crankcase
In a piston engine, the crankcase is the housing that surrounds the crankshaft. In most modern engines, the crankcase is integrated into the engine block.
Two-stroke engines typically use a crankcase-compression design, resulting in the fuel/a ...
was also made of aluminium. The four cylinders, cast in grey iron with fixed heads, gave a total
displacement
Displacement may refer to:
Physical sciences
Mathematics and Physics
*Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...
of ( bore, stroke), and were arranged in pairs each pair with a single spray-nozzle
carburetor
A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meteri ...
. The intake and exhaust valves were no longer opened by cylinder pressure but by two camshafts on the sides of the engine, driven by gears from the flywheel. There were two carburetors, one for each cylinder-pair.
The engine was started by a hand crank aided by the presence of a
decompressor. The engine also incorporated a low-voltage
magneto
A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...
with make-and-break spark ignition. This was fitted at Jellinek's demand, replacing the antiquated
hot tube system.
Cooling was provided by a pumped water system. Maybach's tubular radiator, patented in 1897, known as a honeycomb radiator, was similar to ones. Its rectangular
grille
Grill or grille may refer to:
Food
* Barbecue grill, a device or surface used for cooking food, usually fuelled by gas or charcoal, or the part of a cooker that performs this function
* Flattop grill, a cooking device often used in restaurants, ...
had pipes with a square cross section of × to improve airflow, and held of water. The airflow was assisted by a fan located behind the radiator.
The Mercedes engine ran between and , its speed controlled by the driver using a lever on the steering wheel. Its peak output was at
See also
*
Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft
Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (abbreviated as DMG, also known as ''Daimler Motors Corporation'') was a German engineering company and later automobile manufacturer, in operation from 1890 until 1926. Founded by Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900) and ...
*
Emil Jellinek
Emil Jellinek, known after 1903 as Emil Jellinek-Mercedes (6 April 1853 – 21 January 1918) was a wealthy European automobile entrepreneur with Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG), responsible in 1900 for commissioning the first modern automobile ...
*
Timeline of most powerful production cars
This list is limited to unmodified production cars which meet the eligibility criteria below. All entries must verified from reliable sources.
Eligible cars
Because of inconsistencies in the definitions of production cars, dubious claims by ...
*
Mercedes Simplex
The Mercedes Simplex was an automobile produced from 1902 to 1909 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, ...
*
List of Mercedes-Benz vehicles
The following is a list of vehicles produced by Mercedes-Benz Group (formally Daimler-Benz) and their successors, ordered by year of introduction.
Models
Current production models
Cars 1920s
*400 (1924-1929)
* 630 (1926–1929)
* W02 8/38 ...
Notes
References
*
Mercedes 35 HP at ''seriouswheels.com''.
External links
Mercedes Benz enterpriseJellinek's biographyHistory of Mercedes Benz ''RUS''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercedes 35 HP
Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft
35hp
Cars introduced in 1901
Veteran vehicles
1900s cars