VETERAN CAR GUIDE
Maxwell The Maxwell-Briscoe Motor Co of Tarrytown , New York , USA commenced production in 1904 , when 10 cars were built that year . The vehicle was a twoseater tourer with a wheelbase of 1.83m , equipped with a twin-cylinder horizontally opposed engine with mechanically operated inlet valves , thermosyphon cooling and two-speed planetary transmission .
Mercedes The Mercedes cars were born from a request from Wilhelm Jellinek to Daimler for a more powerful model with a lower centre of gravity , after a 24hp Daimler crashed in the 1900 La Turbie hill climb , killing the driver . The resultant design appeared in late 1900 , and Jellinek called it after his daughter , Mercedes . The vehicle was equipped with a 35hp , 5913cc fourcylinder engine and had mechanically operated inlet valves as well as a gate-type gear change . It was markedly different from its predecessors , with a longer and lower frame although it did retain the earlier chain drive . It still required refinement , but during 1901 made its name in competitions . Between 1901 and 1903 , models with increasingly larger engines appeared . The 40hp and 60hp cars set the standard that many other manufacturers followed .
Mercedes / Simplex The Mercedes Simplex was designed by Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart , Germany from 1902 until 1909 . It featured powerful engines ranging from 40 to 60hp .
Minerva The Minerva was a prominent Belgian luxury automobile company that was established by a Dutchman , Sylvain de Jong , who originally set up a cycle manufacturing business in Antwerp in 1897 . He built engines for several motorcycle manufacturers , including Humber , Royal Enfield and Triumph before embarking on motor car production . The company was restructured in 1903 , following which the first important product was the Minervette that was introduced in 1904 , with a 636cc engine mounted transversely at the front , a two-speed constant mesh gearbox and final drive by a single chain to the offside rear wheel . Later the focus switched to larger-engined cars , including a 3.6 litre four-cylinder model .
Mors The Paris-based Mors company initially manufactured petrol-engined railway inspection cars , and then produced a motor car based on the designs of Henri Brasier , an employee at the time . It used low tension coil and dynamo ignition . A later development included V-four engines with water-cooled heads and air-cooled barrels that were rear-mounted . By 1898 , production was growing rapidly , and the ‘ Petit Duc ’ was launched with a smaller , front-mounted 850cc flat twin cylinder engine and final drive by side chains . Full water cooling was adopted in 1902 , and from 1903 , vertical engines were standard . Models introduced in 1903 had four-cylinder T-head engines , Mercedes-like honeycomb radiators , chain drive and pressed steel chassis . The 1904 engine options included an 8.1 litre 40 / 25hp model .
Napier At the beginning of 1898 Selwyn Edge , manager of the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company acquired the Panhard ‘ Old Number 8 ’, the second placed car in the 1896 Paris-Marseilles race . He enlisted the services of Montague Napier at David Napier & Son , to undertake various modifications and improvements to the car . These were caried out to Edge ’ s satisfaction and by 1900 Napier were building complete cars for competition and later for normal road use . The first Napier distinguished itself in the Thousand Mile Trial of 1900 , driven by Edge . Other racing cars were built , the most famous being a 30hp , four-cylinder car that won the Gordon Bennett Race for Great Britain in 1902 . In 1903 , Napier built 250 cars , and needed to expand from his Lambeth premises to Acton , London . In October , the company announced the 18 / 30hp sixcylinder range that became its trademark , and by 1906 Napier had an all six-cylinder product range .
Napoleon Mr Bernard Neave of London displayed a Napoleon at the Crystal Palace Motor Show in 1903 , that was manufactured by the Paris-based Lacoste et Battmann Co ., using a De Dion Bouton 6hp engine .
1904 Mercedes
www . veterancarrun . com F / veterancarrun . I @ veterancarrun 53