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| Karl Benz did not start designing his engines with more than one cylinder until 1897, though Daimler and Maybach had already started development of multiple cylinder engines with the cylinders arranged in a V shape and parrallel. When he finally did start his development of multiple cylinder engines he went with a completely different design and arranged the cylinders opposite each other and called it the Scontra engine. The world's first horizontally opposed piston engine was born in 1899. It had two cylinders and produced a whopping 5 horsepower. |
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| The progression of the first Mercedes Benz automobiles. |
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| World's first dually! As you can see, automobiles quickly turned into very luxurious vehicles. Before Henry Ford came into the picture, automobiles were not within the reach of the common man. So the needs of the wealthy and posh were the main concerns. |
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| The white car in front is the 1908 Mercedes Doppelphaeton. This was the first production model to be built by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft with a 6 cylinder engine which produced 75 horsepower. It was produced between 1907-1911 and was available in a variety of different body styles. The model here is an open tourer Double Phaeton, the “double” refers to the two rows of seats. |
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| The Mercedes Simplex is the oldest Mercedes in existence! (Mercedes as a stand alone brand – the company has changed names a number of times throughout its history) It's a direct succesor to the 35 horsepower Mercedes designed by Wilhelm Maybach. Simplex refered to the car's relative ease with which it handled corners – at least at that time. |
