Mercedes-Benz Museum’s “Shut-up” is self-explanatory. The sequence intently seems into Mercedes autos that inform a shocking and thrilling backgrounder. And at this time’s characteristic confirmed us the Daimler motorcar, the ancestor of at this time’s Sprinter van.
Not like the Mercedes Sprinter that we all know at this time, which ferries individuals or cargo whereas housed inside a hulking sheet of metallic, the 1899 Daimler motorcar was completely different. Launched shortly after Karl Benz got here up with the Benz Patent-Motorwahen, it did not have something to guard the passenger and cargo from exterior components. What it does, nonetheless, is introduce quite a few new issues within the automotive realm.
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The Daimler motorcar used a tubular radiator, which was invented by Wilhelm Maybach. The element allowed higher engine cooling and elevated efficiency, which enabled the auto to haul cargo and other people because it was meant to.
Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG)’s first van was designed to deal with as much as 1,102 kilos (500 kilograms) of payload. It was powered by a 1.5-liter two-cylinder engine that made 5.6 horsepower (4.1 kilowatts), with a mind-bending high pace of 9.9 miles per hour (16 kilometers per hour). This advanced the next yr, with payload starting from 1,764 to 7,055 lbs (800 to three,200 kg) and energy starting from 4 hp (2.9 kW) to eight hp (5.9 kW) with a two-cylinder engine and 6 hp (4.4 kW) to 12 hp (8.8 kW) with a four-cylinder engine.
Not like Mercedes-Benz’s first truck in 1896 that makes use of a belt-driven system, the engine Daimler motorcar propelled the rear wheels through two chain wheels and two curler chains.
Even the design has advanced. The primary variations of the ancestral Sprinter van got here with the engine beneath the seat and a free-standing steering column. The newer model, which was featured on the Mercedes Museum, had the engine on high of the entrance axle protected by a bonnet. It was additionally utilizing rubber-shod wheels, which was a departure from the usage of picket tires.