Description
1899 Benz Velo 3. 5HP Dogcart
Registration No. ST5979
Chassis No. 1577
Engine No. 1472
VCC Dating Certificate No. 3899
After developing a successful gasoline-powered engine in 1873, Benz focused on developing a motorised vehicle. Following disputes, he split with his business partners in 1883 and in 1885 founded Benz & Cie, Rheinische Gasmotorenfabrik in Mannheim with new backers. The business initially focused on stationary engines, but Benz continued pursuing his dream of creating a motorcar.
In 1885 Benz built a motorcar whose internal combustion engine was powered by gasoline. Benz's three-wheeled automobile, which he called the Motorwagen, could carry two passengers. Prior to building this car, Benz had invented several of its key components: electric ignition, spark plugs, and clutch.
Contemporaneously other inventors were trying to build or had already constructed their own versions of a 'horseless carriage', but Benz's work stood out because his car was constructed around its engine, as opposed to the approach of simply adding an engine to an existing cart or carriage. Benz was granted patent number '37435' for his automobile on 29th January 1886.
It was Benz's wife Bertha who demonstrated the feasibility of his vehicle as a mode of transportation when she took it on a 66-mile drive in August 1888. Bertha made the eight-miles-per-hour journey, accompanied by her two older children, in Model No. 3 of her husband's invention. Her actions garnered positive publicity for the motorcar, although Benz himself only learned of his wife's plans after she had reached her destination!
Before the turn of the 20th century Benz was producing the popular Velo, among other models, sales of which outstripped those of its major European competitors. The Velo was to become the first series-produced car and was manufactured in different versions from 1894 until 1902. This model made Benz the largest motor manufacturer in the world in 1898, by which time it had sold some 1, 600 cars. The basic Benz design was to influence car production for some 12 years from 1888 to 1900, until the arrival of the new Système Panhard and De Dion-Bouton's fast revving vertical engines sounded its death.
Offered here today is an excellent example of the 1899 Velo. Although little is known of its early existence, we know that the car was acquired by a Mr A. T. Johnson of Downham Market, Norfolk, sometime in the 1970s. It was from this vendor that the car was purchased in 1986 by the current family in a disassembled state, but with all its components intact. The car was sent to Mr Bert Davies of Southbourne, West Sussex in 1987 who undertook a painstaking 5 year full restoration of the vehicle which culminated in it recieving the registration number ST5979 in 1992. The years to follow were quite remarkable with the little Benz completing the London to Brighton from 1992 through to 2021, with its finisher medals currently with the car to show. The Benz recieved a Full Dating Certificate from the VCC in 2017 and after extensive research it was found that the car was built in the summer of 1899.
Starting within the first 20 cars on the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, carrying a name recognised for its quality and with true, proven pedigree, this 1899 Benz Velo offers a new custodian the opportunity to experience the pinnacle of Victorian motoring.
£195, 000
