Mercedes Simplex 1902-1909

Mercedes Simplex

The Mercedes Simplex was an automobile produced from 1902-09 by the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG, Daimler Motor Society, a predecessor of Daimler-Benz and Daimler-Chrysler). It continued the use of the Mercedes name as the brand of DMG, rather than Daimler.
The Mercedes Simplex was designed by Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart, Germany. It featured powerful engines whose power ranged from 40 to 60 hp. Its large and wide body had a low center of gravity

The name

The car's predecessor, the Mercedes 35hp of 1901, had broken with the previous primitive automotive standards. Now, DMG and Maybach intended to improve this further by providing "comfort by means of simplicity", hence the name Simplex. A complementary explanation for the name is that, by the standards of 1901, the car was very simple to operate

Mercedes Simplex as a racecar (1902)

When Jellinek received his first Simplex on 1 March 1902 at Nice, he rushed to incorporate it into his Mercedes race team, competing in the Nice-La Turbie hillclimbing race. He defeated all his opponents again and set new records.
On 7 April 1902, during Nice week, Albert Lemaître finished second in the 'Nice – La Turbie mountain race driving a Mercedes Simplex. He was competing in the category for racing cars weighing more than 1000 kg.
Also in 1902, in the United States, a Mercedes Simplex won the 5-mile track race at Grosse-Pointe, Detroit.
In this 1902 campaign, the third step involved William K. Vanderbilt Jr, a US multimillionaire and race car enthusiast who created in 1904 the American Vanderbilt Cup. He had already set several records with the previous Mercedes, in some of the most popular races around the turn of the century, usually long distance ones.
Now, with the Mercedes Simplex, Vanderbilt took part in the 600 mile race to Paris. Later, he broke all records in the Ablis to Chartres race with flying start, with a top-speed of 111.8 km/h. One of his Simplex units is the oldest surviving Mercedes car.

The German Emperor was a simple fan

Mercedes-Simplex 's prowesses were resonating all around the world. More than ever DMG obtained clients among the most important social figures .
Meeting Maybach personally at Berlin's automobile exhibition of 1903 Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany expressed his admiration for the car. Congratulating him for all the achievements at the races, he contrasted these with car's name, commenting: "A truly beautiful engine you have here! But it's not as simple as that, you know."

Dimensions

Mercedes Simplex ' framework was long, wide and with a low center of gravity giving an improved stability at high speeds. The wheelbase was extended to 2.45 meters (8'1").
Its carefully designed frame was made of pressed steel. The engine was welded onto it directly keeping it at a low height.
Other general modifications reduced the overall Simplex weight to 942 kg assuring better results in racing.

Axles

The original 1902 wheels were wooden, with 12 non-removable spokes and pneumatic tires. Later, in 1905, the Mercedes Simplex pioneered cast-steel wheels.
The front and rear axles were modernized progressively, becoming equal in diameter around 1909:

• 1902: 910x90-1020x120. Rear 10% bigger.
• 1909: 915x105-935x135. Roughly equalized.

Attached to these were the two powerful brake systems, one hand-operated and the other by foot:

• the main hand brake acted on the rear wheels, with drum brakes
• the secondary foot brake acted on the chain drive's intermediate driveshaft

Both systems were water-cooled by a sprinkling system over hot zones when braking.
Both axles were rigid, featuring semi-elliptic springs. The steering-axles were located at the extremes, decreasing the transmission of road shocks to the driver's hands

Drive system

The Mercedes Simplex ' engine was mounted over the front axle. The engine's power was taken from a sprocket flywheel, 60 cm in diameter, transmitting it to the rear drive by a long roller chain.
The gate gear manual gearbox featured four speeds and reverse, controlling a coil spring clutch acting on the flywheel system. A lever produced both declutching and deceleration together.

Engine

The engine produced 44 hp at 1300 rpm
Its four cylinders featured:

• water cooling
• lubrication by driver-controlled pressure
• 120 mm bore and 150 mm stroke
• valves mechanically timed by enclosed camshaft mechanically
• engine displacement of 6786 cc

It used magneto electric-spark ignition system  with single spray-nozzle carburetor  for all cylinders; featuring a new atomization system, improved by preheating.
The engine was started up by a hand crank and helped by the use of a decompressor.
Maybach's tubular honeycomb radiator featured a rectangular grill of 8,070 square shaped pipes of 6x6 mm, with improved airflow.
Originally, when launched in 1902, the Mercedes Simplex radiator's did not have a fan  A set of vanes mounted on the flywheel increased the air-flow throughout the engine/radiator's compartment. Its total water capacity, 7 litres  was smaller than the previous Mercedes model by 2 litres.
The engine compartment was covered by metal sheets. Its chassis base was also covered, something imitated by many other car models later.
 

Mercedes 35 hp

Mercedes 35 hp

The Mercedes 35 HP (German Mercedes 35 PS) was a radical early car model designed in 1901 by Wilhelm Maybach and Paul Daimler, for Emil Jellinek. Produced in Stuttgart, Germany, by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG), it began the Mercedes line of cars (since 1926 re-branded Mercedes-Benz). Its name is derived from the power of the car, 35 Pferdestärke (26 kW, approximately 35 horsepower
A significant advancement over the previous generation of automobiles, which were modified stagecoaches, the Mercedes 35 HP is regarded as the first modern car.It was equipped with a powerful petrol engine, it was both wider and larger with a tailored steel chassis  and its center of mass was near the ground. Originally designed as a racing car, the Mercedes 35 HP was further developed for normal road use.

Development

Jellinek specified revolutionary improvements. Unlike the previous generation of cars, unstable motorized coaches of narrow high bodies which were so prone to overturn, the novel Mercedes should be longer, wider, and of a lower center of gravity. Also it would have a light steel body and strong chassis, onto which the engine would be firmly fixed near the ground and lowering the car's center of gravity. 36 of these cars would be delivered, for the large sum of 500000
Over the following months of 1900 Jellinek oversaw the process closely, at first through daily telegrams, and subsequently, by traveling personally. Maybach tested the new car for the first time on 22 November and Jellinek received his first delivery on 22 December 1900.
In January 1901, Emil Jellinek's Mercedes team tested six of the new Mercedes 35 HP in the Pau Grand Prix, but the racecar was of a disappointing performance by multiple technical complications and enduring just for few laps. However in the Nice-La Turbie event of March 1901, it was much different. Jellinek participated through five Mercedes 35 HP and the German driver Wilhelm Werner. The cars dominated the race from start to finish with a record average speed of 51.4 km/h (31.9 mi/h), beating the previous 31.3 km/h (19.4 mi/h) and reaching top speeds of 86 km/h (53 mi/h). Those results easily outclassed all other competing cars in any capacity. The automotive world was so astonished that Paul Meyan, director of the French Automobile Club, stated: "We have entered era of Mercedes". Eventually, the road car achieved typical speeds of 70–75 km/h (43–47 mi/h). The racing version could exceed 85 km/h (53 mi/h).
In Stuttgart, DMG mounted two additional back seats on the Mercedes 35 HP, transforming it for a family car. Between March and August 1901, it manufactured two more Mercedes models, the 12/16 HP and the 8/11 HP. The Mercedes was so successful that the production lines of the DMG ran at full capacity. The Mercedes trademark was used on DMG production automobiles from 23 June 1902. It was formally registered on 26 September 1902.
In June 1903, Emil Jellinek changed his own name to Jellinek-Mercedes, stating: "This is probably the first time that a father has taken his daughter's name

Dimensions


The Mercedes 35 HP had a wheelbase of 2.345 m and a track of 1.400 m. The total weight was also dramatically reduced to 1200 kg by making the main chassis frame of pressed steel of carefully designed U-shaped cross section.
The relatively light engine (230 kg, with 6.6 kg/hp) was mounted over the front axle without any extra subframes, so its center of gravity was close to the ground.

Running gear

The wooden wheels of the Mercedes 35 HP were non-removable, featuring 12 spokes, steel covers and pneumatic tires: 910 mm tall, 90 mm wide in front, and 1020 mm tall, 120 mm wide in the rear.
There were two braking systems, one hand operated and the other by foot. The main brake was the hand brake which acted on the rear wheels which had 30 cm drums. The secondary, foot brake, acted on the chain drive's intermediate shaft and was water-cooled.
Both axles were rigid, equipped with semi-elliptic springs. The steering-axles were designed to minimise transmission of road shocks to the driver. The steering column was inclined backwards unlike the vertical shaft on many of its contemporaries.
The engine of the Mercedes 35 HP was at the front of the car driving the rear wheels through a large roller chain. The gearshift was at the driver's right side, featuring a gate change system with four forward speeds and a reverse gear. The drum like compact clutch system was attached to the flywheel. The flywheel consisted of a self-adjustable coil spring made up of wound spring steel. The tension at which the clutch operated was regulated by a conical cam
Engine

The main bearings were made of magnalium, an aluminium alloy with 5% magnesium. The crankcase was also made of aluminium.The four cylinders, cast in grey iron with fixed heads, gave a total displacement of 5.918 L (116 mm bore, 140 mm stroke), and were arranged in pairs each pair with a single spray-nozzle carburetor. The intake and exhaust valves were no longer opened by cylinder pressure but by two camshafts on the sides of the engine, driven by gears from the flywheel. There were two carburetors, one for each cylinder-pair.
The engine was started by a hand crank aided by the presence of a decompressor. The engine also incorporated a low-voltage magneto with make-and-break spark ignition. This was fitted at Jellinek's demand, replacing the antiquated hot tube system.
Cooling was provided by a pumped water system. Maybach's tubular radiator, patented in 1897, known as a honeycomb radiator, was similar to present-day^[update] ones. Its rectangular grille had 8070 pipes with a square cross section of 6 mm × 6 mm to improve airflow, and held 9 L of water. The airflow was assisted by a fan located behind the radiator.
The Mercedes 35 HP engine ran between 300 rev/min and 1000 rev/min, its speed controlled by the driver using a lever on the steering wheel. Its peak output was 35 HP at 950 rev/min.


 

Karl Bens patented the three-wheeled Patented Motorwagen on January 29, 1886 and produced it as the first commercially available automobile from 1886 through 1893. He followed this initial success with the introduction of the Benz Velo model of 1894. The Velo and the Duryea Motor Wagen, patented in 1895, are credited as the first standardized  cars. 67 Benz Velos were built in 1894 and 134 in 1895. The early Velo had a 1L 3.5 hp engine and later a 3.5 hp engine giving a top speed of 12 mph (19 km/h).