1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen Replica

Discussions about the most important motorcars in history are frequently inconclusive and inevitably never-ending, usually including the Austin Seven, the Morris Minor, Volkswagen's Beetle, the Austin-Healy Sprite, Jaguar's XK120 and E-Type, the F40, McLaren F1, the Bugatti Veyron, Ford’s GT40 - the list goes on. However, the simple fact of the matter is that without the 1886 Carl Benz Patent-Motorwagen, arguably none of those cars would have existed.

Many contraptions can lay a claim to the title of ‘first automobile’, yet historians generally agree that the Benz Patent-Motorwagen is the first such machine to have achieved production success. Completed in 1885 by German inventor Karl Benz and patented the following year, approximately 25 were built between 1886 and 1893. This small first step would lead to the company now known as Mercedes-Benz.

With its delicate tricycle configuration and tiller steering, the Patent-Motorwagen appears primitive, yet the design is surprisingly sophisticated. Its lightweight, 954cm³, horizontally-mounted single-cylinder engine featured electronic ignition and produced 0.75 bhp with output being fed to a belt drive through a large, horizontal flywheel at the rear, finally reaching the rear wheels via dual chain drives.

Although the priceless original Patent-Motorwagen is retained by Mercedes-Benz, John Bentley Engineering built a series of exacting recreations. The most authentic replicas of their kind, they are accurate in every way—although unlike the original, these were designed to run on white gas, rather than the archaic petroleum product called ligroin.

This example, painted in green, was acquired by our vendor a few years ago to nestle nicely into their eclectic mix of the oldest to the most modern motorcars. Such was the quality of Mr. Bentley’s work that approximately 100 of these Patent-Motorwagen recreations (painted in black) were commissioned by Mercedes-Benz Classic around the turn of the millennium, a testament to the quality of his craftsmanship. After completion by Bentley Engineering, each car was road-tested using a separate set of wheels and tyres to ensure each example was delivered in flawless condition before being carefully crated and shipped to their new owners.

A meticulously-crafted tribute to one of the most important machines in automotive history, this 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen Recreation is offered in beautiful condition, having been cherished and run sporadically as a party-piece but seldom driven. Sold in running and driving condition, accompanied by detailed operating instructions, it's sure to carve out a niche in any collection, whether one’s interests lie in significant early motorcars, the history of Mercedes-Benz, or purely historical artefacts.