VETERAN CAR GUIDE
MMC Harry J Lawson , entrepreneur and promoter of the first London to Brighton Run in 1896 , created The Great Horseless Carriage Company Ltd in Coventry , in 1897 . By 1898 , this had become The Motor Manufacturing Company Ltd . This was based in part of The Motor Mills , which housed various manufacturers , including Daimler . The early MMC and Daimler shared many characteristics including the 4hp twin cylinder vertical engines , steering and ignition . George Iden joined the company , and in 1899 new designs were available with rear-mounted horizontal-twin engines and side gear change . By 1902 , the engines were front mounted with one , two or four cylinders . The company faced restructurings and financial constraints leading to modest output and poor reputation for quality .
Martini Martini was a pioneer Swiss automobile manufacturer , in operation from 1897 to 1934 . In 1897 , businessman Adolf von Martini built an experimental rear-engined car . He followed this with V4 cars of 10hp and 16hp in 1902 . Since Swiss cantons were unusually hostile to cars , the company had to rely more than most on exports , and demand from abroad proved sufficient to justify building a factory in Saint-Blaise in 1904 .
Maxim The London General Automobile Company Limited gave the name Maxim to a car designed by Hiram Stevens Maxim , who invented the Maxim gun . It had a twin-cylinder , 16hp , T-head Fafnir engine , three-speed gearbox and a double chain drive . Early cars had an armoured wood chassis and gilled-tube radiator , but later had steel frames and honeycomb radiators .
1903 Maxim .
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 .
Milwaukee The 5hp Milwaukee steam car with a 5hp vertical two-cylinder engine , chain-drive and tiller steering was made in Wisconsin , USA . Three body styles were offered , namely a two-seater Stanhope , fourseater Surrey ( which could be steered from the rear seat ), and a delivery van . In 1902 a four-seater rear-entrance tonneau with wheel steering and a small front bonnet was offered , but the company was bankrupt by June 1902 .
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
54 The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run