Blitzen Benz #1

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Stuttgart/Mannheim, Germany, Mar 17, 2011

- The record-breaking Benz 200 hp becomes the “Blitzen-Benz” in the USA
- Absolute speed record of 228.1 km/h is achieved

The first record-breaking outings of the Benz 200 hp provided early indications that this was a model destined to push back all previously known boundaries. For example, the speeds which this awesomely powerful car was aiming for meant that it quickly outgrew the confines of European race circuits. Benz & Cie. knew that there were suitable circuits on the other side of the Atlantic in the USA, and the decision was therefore taken in Mannheim to undertake record attempts there. Achieving success with the record-breaking car in North America – an important overseas market – would in any event not be bad for business.

History

At the beginning of 1909, Julius Ganss, working for Benz, was given permission to design a car which could reach a speed of over 200 km/h based on the 150 hp Benz Grand-Prix car. Providing the thrust to match the rhetoric was the 150-hp engine from the grand-prix racer, yet even this output fell short of what was required to fulfill such an ambitious brief. In the hour of need, the engineers fell back on a trusted method and bumped displacement up to 21.5 liters - setting a standard no other racing or record-chasing car produced by Benz & Cie. or Daimler Benz AG would ever reach again. The engine developed 184 hp at 1500 rpm in its original incarnation, before some technical trickery saw this figure rise to 200 hp at 1600 rpm. Weighing in at 407 kg, it was almost as imposing in its sheer physical size as in the power it produced.

Although the engine with serial number 5100 first saw action in the chassis and under the body of the Benz grand-prix car, it was known within the company as the 200-hp Benz, in line with the usual naming method. On August 22, 1909 Fritz Erle - a designer at Benz and later head of the testing and motor sport departments - stormed to victory in the one-kilometer race in Frankfurt/Main in double-quick time. Erle covered the kilometer with flying start in 22.6 seconds, equivalent to an average speed of 159.3 km/h and enough to earn him the Grand Duchess of Hesse prize.

The car had retained the body of the grand-prix model and entered events under this designation. Victor Hemery drove the 200-hp machine for the first time on October 17, totally outclassing the competition in a sprint race in Brussels. And the tarmac had barely had time to dry on the newly opened Brooklands circuit in England when the Benz works driver arrived on November 8, 1909 to set a new land-speed record. Héméry covered the one-kilometer distance from a flying start at an average speed of 202.7 km/h, breaking the all-important 200 km/h mark for the first time in Europe and proving that the car was capable of fulfilling its raison d'etre. This was, after all, a machine built to break records, and other new milestones were soon to follow. The kilometer from a standing start was completed in 31.326 seconds and the mile recorded in 41.268 seconds, equaling the mark set by Darracq.

Whilst the car was competing in these early races against rivals and clock, the engineers back in Mannheim were working feverishly to develop a new and aerodynamic body variant. The work was completed in late 1909 and the Benz finally took on a stylistic character very much of its own. Erle and Hemery made the car as narrow as possible in order to reduce wind resistance to a minimum, which explains why the gearshift and handbrake levers and the exhaust system were located outside the car body, with only bulges in the hood giving the exhaust rocker arms the space they required. The high-standing, narrow radiator core was accommodated behind a brass grille, whose upper end formed an expansion tank pointing out sharply from the front of the car. This 'bird's beak' helped to give the record-breaking machine its striking and somewhat aggressive appearance, whilst at the rear of the car the body tapered off into a pointed tail. When it came to the seat positions, the driver and co-driver - whose job it was to operate the hand-operated gasoline pump - were literally shoulder-to-shoulder.

Eventually the first two 200HP Blitzen Benzs ended up and American and Buick works driver Bob Burman, lined up at Daytona Beach on April 23, 1911, this long, wide expanse of coastline providing the perfect venue for high-speed trials. Tapping the car's full potential, he squeezed out an average 225.65 km/h for the mile with flying start and 228.1 km/h over the kilometer with flying start - a new land-speed record which was to remain unbroken until 1919. At the time, this made the Benz twice as fast as an aircraft, whilst the rail speed record (1903: 210 km/h) was also blasted out of sight.

Benz dealership in Antwerp, Belgium, sold Blitzen-Benz no. 6 to a Mr. M. Heje from Gent, who took delivery of the car on December 24, 1913, thereby setting himself a very special Christmas present. This was the only Blitzen (engine number 13280) with an extended chassis (3200 mm instead of 2800 mm) and a four-seat touring body. The latest model was also a frequent entrant in record attempts at Brooklands. The car remained in England for a long time, before being acquired by an American collector in 2002.

Story by DaimlerBenz

More History

After completing a series of trial runs around Mannheim, the car was therefore shipped off to America in January 1910, complete with new body. The plan was for George Robertson to go head-to-head with the car against Ralph de Palma, who held records on a host of American circuits. However, not everything went according to plan: after discovering that Jesse Froehlich had taken delivery of the car, event manager Ernie Moross proposed a deal with the New York-based Benz importer: he offered his 150-hp Grand Prix Benz plus 6000 dollars in exchange for the record-breaking racer.

The wily businessman even had a catchy name in mind – this was a lightning-fast car, so why not call it the “Lightning Benz”. The name was painted onto his new purchase. Moross’ driver Barney Oldfield lined up at Daytona Beach in Florida on 16 and 17 March 1910 without any kind of specific preparation for his record attempt - and duly posted a new best of 211.4 km/h. As such, the steam car record set by Marriott had been broken. However, the A.I.A.C.R. (Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus), the highest authority in car racing and the precursor to the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) which governs motorsport today, refused to recognise the record because the Benz had not covered the distance in the opposite direction as well – as specified in the competition guidelines – with the average from the two runs being used to determine the valid speed.

Subsequently Moross organised a series of show events for the “Lightning Benz”. However, the car’s name was soon to lose its sheen in the eyes of its restless owner, who replaced it with the German translation “Blitzen-Benz” – presumably with the aim of further accentuating the car’s roots – and also had a small German Imperial Eagle painted onto the right-hand side of the hood. In late 1910 the American Automobile Association (AAA) took the step of excluding Barney Oldfield from all racing activities. In his most recent outings, Oldfield had subjected the Blitzen-Benz to such a severe battering that Moross had to have it repaired. His seat for the following season was taken by the former Buick works driver Bob Burman – much to the annoyance of Oldfield, who was well aware of the reserves of speed still locked up inside the car.

Burman duly lined up at Daytona Beach on 23 April 1911, this long, wide expanse of coastline providing the perfect venue for high-speed trials. Tapping the car’s full potential, he squeezed out an average 228.1 km/h for the mile with flying start and 226.7 km/h over the kilometre with flying start. This was an absolute land speed record which was to remain unbroken by any other vehicle until 1919. Only Ralph de Palma was able to establish a new world record, clocking up a speed of 241.2 km/h (149.875 mph) over the flying mile at Daytona Beach on 12 February 1919 in his Packard.

In 1911, the record-breaking Benz 200 hp was not only faster than all other cars and locomotives (the rail vehicle record of 1903 was 210 km/h), but also twice as fast as the aircraft of the time. The “Blitzen-Benz” spent the rest of the season decked out in “war paint”, with an imposing Imperial Eagle and thick trim lines being added to the paintwork. The car was now also fitted with a speedometer, with the transfer shaft located outside the car itself and extending forward to the right front wheel.
The “Blitzen-Benz” embarked on a tour across the USA, becoming something of a sensation on wheels. However, a change in the regulations in 1913 stopped it in its tracks. With displacement limited to 7.4 litres, the legendary “Blitzen-Benz” was passed on to Stoughton Fletcher, who hired Burman to carry out the necessary conversion work during 1914. In October 1915, Fletcher then sold the car to Harry Harkness.

On 2 November 1915 the car made its return to public life, re-badged as the “Burman Special” for a race against Ralph de Palma’s Sunbeam at Sheepshead Bay, New York, USA. However, the record-breaking car of years past was barely recognisable, with its wire spoke wheels now containing more tightly arranged spokes, concertina-type dampers fitted in place of spring-loaded shock absorbers, staggered seats, a bulge in the cockpit construction acting as a wind deflector, and a significantly longer and more rounded tail which sloped downwards towards the rear.

In 1916 Burman was killed whilst at the wheel of a Peugeot, heralding the return of the “Blitzen-Benz” to England. In Easter 1922 it appeared at Brooklands, where it sported white paintwork, a modified engine cover and a new radiator. Count Louis Vorow Zborowski had taken over the reins, but was unable to pilot the “Blitzen-Benz” to any further success. In 1923 he tore the car apart and used some of the powertrain components for a new project of his own, the Higham Special.

A second Blitzen Benz raced against the first in 1912. In 1914, Teddy Tetzlaff set a record at Bonneville in the second car at 229.85 km/h.

After Burman's death in 1916, the original car was dismantled in Europe. The Blitzen Benz shown (colour photos) was assembled from original and recreated parts in 1935 to mark the 50th anniversary of Daimler-Benz (Karl Benz built his first car, the three-wheeled Benz Patent Motorwagen, in 1885).

Video - Jay Leno's Garage

Another Blitzen Benz

HI, this is Bill Evans the owner of the Blitzen. To answer your question what is original, The engine, chassis, radiator(purchased form George Waterman Jr.) steering box/column/wheel and a whole bunch of other jiblits are real and were purchased from the factory. I made the transmission, Body wheels etc. The question comes up all the time if the car is original. don't know how to answer the question. The engine and Chassis were the original Hornstead/skinny joe car #9141 The original Transmission is in Babs. The radiator that is suppose to be on the car is on the Factory's car in Stuttgart. They embodied the car in 1934 for the 50th anniversary of Benz. I bought the radiator off George Waterman Jr. George Sr. bought it in the early 30's and had it in his collection for over 50 years.
The radiators from each of the cars is different and faced with the fact that I had Blitzen #1's radiator and had to make a new body anyway I chose to rebuild the car around the radiator.
Hope this shines some light on the car and at the end of the day it is what it is. Better on the road than still a bunch of parts that last drove in 1921 when it went over the banking at Brooklands.
Bill Evans

References

• The Incredible Blitzen Benz by Karl Ludvigsen, published 2006