1903 Mercedes Simplex Tourer
In designing the prototype of this car, Gottlieb Daimler’s chief designer Wilhelm Maybach incorporated such modern features as honeycomb radiator, multiple-speed transmission with gate gear change, mechanically operated inlet valves, foot throttle, electric ignition system and pressed steel frame. Wider, lower, longer, faster and easier to handle than its contemporaries, it was a masterpiece; the first real automobile.
Specifications: Model 40/45 hp. tourer; engine four-cycle, four-cylinder, in-line, water-cooled, spark ignition; bore 118 mm., stroke 150 mm., 6,786 cc. displacement, 44 hp. at 1300 rpm.
Accession no. 1984G63.
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