German Car Zone

Here's the first part of my second trip to the Mercedes-Benz Museum. I was able to take more pictures (700 total) and I will be posting these threads in terms of category. The first category is:

"The Beginning of Benz and Daimler (1885-1899)"

Enjoy the pictures!



The main entrance to the museum, with a bunch of fuel-cell powered W168 A-Classes infront.





We begin at the usual starting point. Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler's creations which ushered in the age of motorized travel and driving pleasure. Daimler’s car is the 4-wheeled one. It had a 469cc 1-cylinder engine with 1.5-horsepower at around 700 RPM’s. Top speed was 16 km/h (10 mph). Benz’s car was the 3-wheeled model with a 984cc 1-cylinder engine and 0.9-horsepower. Top speed was 15 km/h. The engine on display is the 1-cylinder engine that powered Karl Benz's three-wheeled car.







1885 Daimler Reitwagen
Constructed by both Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, it was essentially the world's first motorcycle and was powered by an engine making 0.5-horsepower. The Reitwagen was tested from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim, a distance of 3 km. This is a replica as the original Reitwagen was destroyed during a factory fire in 1904.
1-cylinder, 264cc, 0.5-horsepower @ 600 RPM, 12 km/h top speed



1887 Daimler "Motorized Hand Car"
The Motorized Hand Car was the first gasoline-powered vehicle to run on train tracks. It was tested in 1887 between Esslingen and Kirchheim/Teck.
1-cylinder, 462cc, 1.1-horsepower @ 800 RPM



1888 Daimler "Marie"
This boat belonged to the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck who gave the boat the name of "Marie". A similar boat had been used in the summer of 1886, long before Daimler began to use his motors in road vehicles.
1-cylinder, 489cc, 1.5-horsepower @ 700 RPM, 6 knots top speed (11 km/h)



1888 Wölfertsches Motor-Luftschiff
After conquering land and sea, Daimler's engines were finally able to conquer the air with the world's first airship constructed by Wölfert, an accountant working in Leipzig. In the summer of 1888, Wölfert flew the airship from Cannstatt to Kornwestheim - 10 km away!
1-cylinder, 603cc, 2-horsepower @ 720 RPM



1889 Daimler Motor Quadricycle "Stahlradwagen"
The "Stahlradwagen" premiered in 1889 at he Paris Motorshow where it was the star of the show. The car is largely credited with inspiring the French to start their own automotive industry. The vehicle also ditched many horse carriage related features in favor of more modern technology such as a modern steering system.
2-cylinder (V-form), 565cc, 1.5-horsepower @ 700 RPM, 18 km/h top speed



1892 Daimler Motor-Feuerspritze
Despite being pulled by horses, the Daimler Motor-Feuerspritze used a gasoline engine to create a pump performance of 300 liter / minute - which previously would have taken 32 strong men to perform.
2-cylinder, 3041cc, 7-horsepower @ 540 RPM



1893 Daimler Motor-Lokomotiv
This is an 1892 narrow-tracked Daimler Motor-Lokomotiv which remained in service until 1918 after being used in World War I.
2-cylinder (V-form), 1902cc, 4.6-horsepower @ 580 RPM, 18 km/h top speed



1893 Benz Vis-a-Vis
The "Victoria" and "Vis-aVis" were the first four-wheeled cars from Karl Benz. Both cars featured an advanced steering system in which both fron wheels turned (developed by Benz himself) which enabled the car to travel safer around corners at top speed.
1-cylinder, 1726cc, 3-horsepower @ 450 RPM, 18 km/h top speed



1894 Benz "Velociped"
Between 1894 and 1901, Benz managed to sell 1,200 "Velocipeds". The "Velociped" (or Velo for short) was not only the world's first compact car but one of the first mass produced ones as well.
1-cylinder, 1045cc, 1.5-horsepower @ 450 RPM, 20 km/h top speed



1895 Benz Omnibus
Offering a seating capacity for 8 people, the Benz Omnibus was the world's first bus. They were used for public transportation between Siegen-Netphen-Deuz, only for a weeks however since massive rainfalls made the muddy roads impassable. The originals have been lost, the model shown is a replica.
1-cylinder, 2651cc, 5-horsepower @ 600 RPM, 20 km/h top speed



1896 Daimler Riemenwagen "Vis-a-Vis"
With over 150 produced, the Riemenwagen was the first mass-produced car from the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. This car featured three innovations from Wilhelm Maybach: the Phoenix engine, the spray nozzle carburetor and the belt drive.
2-cylinders, 1060cc, 4.6-horsepower @ 740 RPM, 18 km/h top speed



1898 Daimler Motor-Lastwagen
The car you see is the original 1898 Daimler Motor-Lastwagen: the world's first truck. Two years earlier, in 1896, Daimler had already started with the construction of trucks, many of whom were sold in England. The primary customers in Germany were breweries which used the truck for beer deliveries.
2-cylinder, 1527cc, 5.6-horsepower @ 720 RPM, 12 km/h top speed, load capacity of 1250 kg (2755 lbs)





1899 Daimler Motor-Geschäftswagen
The Daimler Geschäftswagen (business vehicle) was the forerunner of today's commercial vans (Mercedes Sprinter, Ford Econoline etc.). A Phoenix engine powered the car and enabled it to transport freight with a maximum weight of 500 kg.
2-cylinders, 1527cc, 5.6-horsepower @ 720 RPM, 16 km/h top speed, load capacity of 500 kg (1100 lbs)



1899 Benz "Dos-a-Dos"
The Dos-a-Dos was powered by the contraengine, the world's first opposed piston engine (developed by Benz). The car derived it's name from the fact that its passengers were seated back to back. In this way, they were not in the driver's field of vision which had been the case in the "Vis-a-Vis".
2-cylinders, 1728cc, 5-horsepower @ 940 RPM, 35 km/h top speed



1899 Benz 5-PS 2-cylinder "Contramotor"
The "Contramotor" was essentially the world's first boxer-engine with the cylinders arranged opposite of each other.
2-cylinders, 1728cc, 5-horsepower @ 940 RPM



1894 Daimler 5-PS "Vierzylindermotor"
As early as 1890, Daimler supplied gasoline engines to various customers. These were primarily 6-hp and a larger 12-hp engines. Most of these engines were used to power boats.
4-cylinders, 2413cc, 5.9-horsepower @ 600 RPM



1889 Daimler 1.5-PS "Zweizylindermotor"
Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach developed this engine together. The rights to produce it were bought by Panhard & Levassor in France who ended up mass-producing this engine making it the world's first mass-produced multi-cylinder gasoline engine.
2-cylinders (V-form), 565cc, 1.5-horsepower @ 700 RPM

Dude, you're nutts!!!

Dude, it's "just" 700 pictures!

This is going to be a great "thread story"! I can't wait to see all the other stuff...

Didn't you get tired of all those museums and stuff? How many times you visited MB museums?

Nope. I never get tired of taking pictures and posting them. As long as I have a fast internet connection!

This is my second time at the new Mercedes Museum. I've been to the old one twice.

Also on my list to visit this coming week: Affalterbach. <--- Sound familiar?

I am going to sign off now because I still have 500 pictures to upload and I have to prepare Part II.

Man, i was just kidding, i love your Dealers/Museums threads... Keep 'em coming...

Oh and go visit that AMG ASAP, those are the pics i want to see...

I've been there before, but this time I have a better camera with me.

Right on!

Wimmer - you are officially the most enthusiastic Mercedes-Benz fan I've ever met.