Benz & Cie |
The 21.5-litre record-breaker: the Benz 200 hp, a.k.a. the “Blitzen-Benz”by Philipp Deppe | 8.Oktober 2009 Mercedes Benz Auto Museum 1909 was a special year in the history of Benz& Cie, crowned by the achievements of a record-breaking car which has sealed its place in automotive folklore as one of the most inspirational models ever made. Powered by a quite awe-inspiring 21.5-litre 147-kW engine, the “Blitzen-Benz” reduced the then mythical 200 km/h landmark to a footnote in history. No other road-going vehicle could compete, whilst the world’s fastest trains and even the aircraft of the time were left gasping in its wake. A land-speed record which remained intact for eight years represents a suitable legacy for this era-defining vehicle. Six examples of the Lightning Benz were built in total; these were used in Europe and the United States. Of these, four have survived to this day: one Lightning Benz is in the possession of the Mercedes-Benz Museum, a second original vehicle, the only four-seater version, is in the hands of a collector in the United States. In 2004 another enthusiast for the brand in the US completed a private project to build a replica copy using many original parts. This project was carried out in close cooperation with the collection of the Mercedes-Benz Museum and the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center. The fourth vehicle, built in England, is a replica of the blue Hémery car. Faster than any plane, train or automobile The name Benz sounds like a synonym for Automobile: Finally, it is Carl Benz, who on 29 January 1886 patent for his engine car gets - the birth certificate of the automobile. Gottlieb Daimler's motorized carriage rolled only a few weeks later, the first time until the turn of the 19th on the 20th Century soars Benz to become the largest automaker in the world. The vehicles from the factory in Mannheim enjoy an excellent reputation, they are considered suitable for everyday use and reliable. These were relatively rare qualities among the cars populating the roads at the time. A slew of new auto brands had emerged from nowhere, forcing Benz to recognise that a resonant name was not in itself enough to guarantee success in a marketplace with little structure or pattern. The company’s rivals, not least Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, had latched onto the potential of motor sport success as an advertising tool. Despite competing in a series of events, Benz had resisted the temptation to follow suit, preferring to accentuate the virtues of its affordable cars in everyday use. However, after investigating ways of increasing competitiveness, Julius Ganss – a member of the company’s board of management – came to the conclusion that even Benz could not afford to ignore the intricacies of modern market mechanisms. With a thorough appreciation of the qualities inherent in the company’s models, he knew that Benz was perfectly equipped to build a sports car which could outstrip any other form of transport at the time – trains and aircraft included. In early 1909 the board gave the green light to construction of a car which would glide effortlessly through the magic 200 km/h barrier. Providing the thrust to match the rhetoric was the engine from the grand-prix Benz 150 hp, yet even this output fell short of what was required to fulfil such an ambitious brief. In the hour of need, the engineers fell back on a trusted method and bumped displacement up to 21.5 litres – setting a standard no other racing or record-chasing car produced by Benz & Cie., Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft or Daimler Benz AG would ever reach again. The engine developed 135 kW at 1500 rpm in its original incarnation, before some technical trickery saw this figure rise to 147 kW at 1600 rpm. Weighing in at 407 kg, it was almost as imposing in its sheer physical size as in the power it produced. The engine with the serial number 5100 was fitted in a modified chassis of the Benz grand-prix car. In line with the usual naming method stating the output in hp, the vehicle was designated the Benz 200 hp. On 22 August 1909 Fritz Erle – a designer at Benz and later head of the testing and motor sport departments – stormed to victory in the one-kilometre race in Frankfurt/Main in double-quick time. Erle covered the kilometre with flying start in 22.6 seconds, equivalent to an average speed of 159.3 km/h and enough to earn him the Grand Duchess of Hesse prize. Mission accomplished: A record-breaking car is born Historical photos show that the car already had its characteristic aerodynamic body at the one-kilometre race in Frankfurt/Main: Erle and Hémery made the car as narrow as possible in order to reduce wind resistance to a minimum, which explains why the gearshift and handbrake levers and the exhaust system were located outside the car body, with only bulges in the hood giving the exhaust rocker arms the space they required. The high-standing, narrow radiator core was accommodated behind a brass grille, whose upper end formed an expansion tank pointing out sharply from the front of the car. This “bird’s beak” helped to give the record-breaking machine its striking and somewhat aggressive appearance, whilst at the rear of the car the body tapered off into a pointed tail. When it came to the seat positions, the driver and co-driver – whose job it was to operate the hand-operated petrol pump – were literally shoulder-to-shoulder. Pushing back the boundaries And so, after completing a series of trial runs around Mannheim, the car was shipped off to America in January 1910, new body and all. The plan was for George Robertson to go head-to-head with the car against Ralph de Palma, who held records on a host of American circuits. However, not everything went according to plan. After discovering that Jesse Froehlich had taken delivery of the car, event manager Ernie Moross proposed a deal with the New York-based Benz importer: his 150-hp grand-prix Benz plus 6000 dollars in exchange for the record-breaking racer. The wily businessman even had a catchy name in mind – this was a lightning-fast car, so why not call it the “Lightning Benz”. The name was painted onto his new purchase. Moross’ driver Barney Oldfield lined up at Daytona Beach in Florida on 17 March 1910 without any kind of specific preparation for his first record attempt – and duly posted a new world best of 211.97 km/h. Undeterred, Moross organised a series of show events for the “Lightning Benz”. However, the car’s name was soon to lose its sheen in the eyes of its restless owner, who replaced it with the German translation “Blitzen-Benz” – presumably with the aim of further accentuating the car’s roots – and had a small German Imperial Eagle painted onto the right-hand side of the hood. Raising the bar: the land-speed record reaches 228.1 km/h The Blitzen-Benz embarked on a tour across the USA, becoming something of a sensation on wheels. However, a change in the regulations in 1913 stopped it in its tracks. With displacement limited to 7.4 litres, the legendary Blitzen-Benz I was passed on to Stoughton Fletcher, who hired Burman to carry out the necessary conversion work over the course of 1914. In October 1915, Fletcher then sold the Blitzen to Harry Harkness. On 2 November 1915 the car made its public return, re-badged as the “Burman Special” for a match-up against Ralph de Palma’s Sunbeam at Sheepshead Bay, New York, USA. However, the record-breaking car of years past was barely recognisable, with its wire spoke wheels now containing more tightly arranged spokes, concertina-type dampers fitted in place of spring-loaded shock absorbers, staggered seats, a bulge in the cockpit construction acting as a wind deflector, and a significantly longer and more rounded tail which sloped downwards towards the rear. In 1916 Burman was killed whilst at the wheel of a Peugeot, heralding the return of the Blitzen-Benz to Europe. Its journey may have taken it via Mannheim on its way to the Brooklands track in England, where it appeared in 1922 sporting white paintwork, a modified engine cover and a new radiator. Count Louis Vorow Zborowski had taken over the reins, but was unable to pilot the Blitzen-Benz to any further success. In 1923 he tore the car apart and used some of the powertrain components for a new project of his own, the Higham Special. The second coming Meanwhile, a second, more aerodynamically efficient body had been constructed for the car in the style of the original Blitzen-Benz and could be fitted to the chassis as an alternative. Erle entered the car in a series of races in 1911 and 1912, alternating the body variant from race to race but without being convinced by any difference in performance. This second-generation Benz 200 hp was also shipped over to America, although it is unclear exactly when. What is certain is that Bob Burman competed in a race with the car at Brooklyn Brighton Beach on 7 September 1912 and improved on the track record set by Blitzen-Benz I. Benz versus Benz In 1914 the Blitzen-Benz II stretched its legs over the salt lake in Bonneville, Teddy Tetzlaff recording a speed of 229.85 km/h. The car went on to compete in various races up to 1917, after which things become less clear. It is likely that the Benz 200 hp was bought in 1917 by Ralph Hankinson, a dirt-track race organiser. However, with his business subsequently entering into bankruptcy it appears that the car was snapped up by a carnival society sometime around 1919. From there the trail runs cold. Number 3 It was then that L. G. “Cupid” Hornsted arrived on the scene in Mannheim. Inspired by success in an aging Benz racing car, the British-based Benz dealer had come to Germany to inquire about the possibility of getting his hands on a more powerful machine. The Mannheim management approved the sale of a Benz 200 hp. Hornsted immediately requested a series of modifications be made to the car, including a different radiator grille and – optionally fitted – a wind deflector as well as numerous technical tweaks. Bearing blue paintwork, the car made its debut at the Brooklands circuit in November 1913 and the following month Hornsted broke Hémery’s record with a speed of 118.4 km/h for the kilometre with standing start. On 14 January 1914 the Englishman racked up a total of seven new leading marks, including the highest two-way average speed – 199.3 km/h – for the half mile with flying start. Hornsted had already given a demonstration of his driving skill a week earlier, somehow regaining control of the Benz 200 hp after a puncture at around 190 km/h had launched the car into a series of spins. The car was subsequently transported back to the Mannheim plant, where it spent the duration of the First World War under wraps in the testing department. When the fighting was over, the mechanics set about putting together serviceable models from the materials available. Two such cars were completed, one of which was based on the chassis used for Hornsted’s Benz and fitted with a reproduction of the Blitzen-Benz II body. Among the distinctive details of the new car were the fully-covered wire spoke wheels, its sharply tapered rear end and the staggered seats. In 1922 it was brought over to Brooklands and presented to Horace V. Barlow as his works car, man and machine promptly roaring to victory in its first outing in August 1922. Competing in a different race on the same bill was Count Zborowski in the Blitzen-Benz II. Then, on The “grandmother” knits together a series of fine performances The Blitzen-Benz held by the Mercedes-Benz Museum Lightning strikes twice Meanwhile, the Benz dealership in Antwerp, Belgium, sold Blitzen-Benz no. 6 to a Mr. M. Heje from Gent, who took delivery of the car on 24 December 1913, thereby setting himself a very special Christmas present. This was the only Blitzen-Benz (engine number 13280) with an extended chassis (3200 mm instead of 2800 mm) and a four-seat touring body. The latest model was also a frequent entrant in record attempts at Brooklands. The car remained in England for a long time, before being acquired by an American collector in 2002. Business booming A new chapter in the history of the Blitzen-Benz At the same time, specialists were restoring the Museum’s Blitzen and preparing it for action once again. The history of the Blitzen-Benz roared gloriously back to life as the engine struck its first notes of the 21st century, the wheels turning again to the resonant tones from under the hood. The speeds they achieved may have been modest by today’s standards, but there is still broadly-held respect for those early drivers and the bravery they showed at the huge steering wheels of these imposing machines. All they had to protect themselves on those heroic record attempts at speeds of up to 228.1 km/h was a pair of glasses – and you literally shudder to think how the suspension must have felt north of 200 km/h. These were tough characters worthy of an awesome car. Source: Daimler AG |
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