Editing Carl Benz (section)

==Benz and Cie. expansion==
[[Image:Karl Benz - early automobile logo w cog wheel - 83d40m.JPG|thumb|left|Early logo used on automobiles by Benz]]
[[Image:Benz Velo 1894.jpg|thumb|Benz introduced the Velo in 1894, becoming the first ''large scale production'' automobile.]]
[[Image:Bertha Benz with her husband Carl Benz in a Benz-Viktoria, model 1894.jpg|thumb|Bertha Benz with her husband in a Benz Victoria, model 1894]]
[[Image:Erster Benzin-Omnibus der Welt.jpg|thumb|First internal combustion-engined bus in history: the Benz Omnibus, built in 1895 for the Netphener bus company]]
[[Image: Benz racing car two-cylinder 14 hp (1899).jpg |thumb| Benz racing car two-cylinder 14 hp (1899)]]
<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:zzz-0309CogWheel1909laurel.jpg|thumb|Benz & Company logos: Cog wheel (1903 to 1909) and laureled (since 1909)]] -->
The great demand for static [[internal combustion engines]] forced Benz to enlarge the factory in Mannheim, and in 1886 a new building located on Waldhofstrasse (operating until 1908) was added. ''Benz & Cie.'' had grown in the interim from 50 employees in 1889 to 430 in 1899.

During the last years of the nineteenth century, ''Benz'' was the largest automobile company in the world with 572 units produced in 1899.

Because of its size, in 1899, ''Benz & Cie.'' became a [[joint-stock company]] with the arrival of Friedrich von Fischer and Julius Ganß, who came aboard as members of the [[Board of directors|Board of Management]]. Ganß worked in the commercialization department, which is somewhat similar to marketing in contemporary corporations.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mercedes-benz.co.ke/content/kenya/mpc/mpc_kenya_website/en/home_mpc/passengercars/home/world/mythos/how_it_began.html |title=How it all began |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819021657/http://www.mercedes-benz.co.ke/content/kenya/mpc/mpc_kenya_website/en/home_mpc/passengercars/home/world/mythos/how_it_began.html |archive-date=19 August 2016}}</ref>

The new directors recommended that Benz should create a less expensive automobile suitable for [[mass production]]. From 1893 to 1900 Benz sold the four wheel, two seat ''[[Benz Viktoria|Victoria]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|title=Benz Victoria and Vis-à-Vis, 1893–1900|url=https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsClassic/en/instance/ko/Benz-Victoria-and-Vis--Vis-1893---1900.xhtml?oid=4393|access-date=2020-10-07|website=marsClassic|language=en|archive-date=30 March 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170330115915/https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsClassic/en/instance/ko/Benz-Victoria-and-Vis--Vis-1893---1900.xhtml?oid=4393|url-status=live}}</ref><!--Is it spelled "Viktoria"? Reply: apparently not; French spelling was fashionable in Germany at the time--> a two-passenger automobile with a {{convert|2.2|kW|hp|abbr=on}} engine, which could reach the top speed of {{convert|18|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} and had a [[lever|pivot]]al front [[axle]] operated by a [[roller chain|roller-chained]] [[tiller]] for [[steering]]. The model was successful with 85 units sold in 1893, and was produced in a four-seated version with face-to-face seat benches called the "Vis-à-Vis".

From 1894 to 1902, Benz produced over 1,200 of what some consider the first mass-produced car, the [[Benz Velo|Velocipede]], later known as the Benz Velo.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Danielson|first1=C.|title=The World's First Production Car, The Benz Patent Motor Car Velocipede Of 1894|url=http://www.emercedesbenz.com/Sep08/12_001387_eMercedesBenz_Feature_The_Worlds_First_Production_Car_The_Benz_Patent_Motor_Car_Velocipede_Of_1894.html|website=eMercedesBenz|access-date=22 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324020255/http://www.emercedesbenz.com/Sep08/12_001387_eMercedesBenz_Feature_The_Worlds_First_Production_Car_The_Benz_Patent_Motor_Car_Velocipede_Of_1894.html|archive-date=24 March 2015}}</ref> The early Velo had a 1L {{convert|1.5|hp|PS hp kW|adj=on|order=out}} engine, and later a {{convert|3|hp|PS hp kW|0|adj=on|order=out}} engine. giving a top speed of {{convert|12|mph|km/h|abbr=on|order=flip}}.

The ''Velo'' participated in the world's first automobile race, the 1894 [[Paris–Rouen (motor race)|Paris to Rouen]], where Émile Roger finished 14th, after covering the {{convert|126|km|mi|abbr=on}} in 10 hours 01-minute at an average speed of {{convert|12.7|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}.

In 1895, Benz designed the first truck with an internal combustion engine in history. Benz also built the first motor buses in history in 1895, for the ''[[Netphener]]'' bus company.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/lifestyle/mercedes-benz-magazines/classic-magazine/the-first-motorized-bus-dating-back-to-1895-was-a-benz/ |title=The first motorized bus, dating back to 1895, was a Benz. |date=16 June 2015 |website=mercedes-benz.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210181007/https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/lifestyle/mercedes-benz-magazines/classic-magazine/the-first-motorized-bus-dating-back-to-1895-was-a-benz/ |archive-date=10 February 2018 |access-date=10 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/classic/museum/exponate-benz-omnibus/ |title=Benz motorized bus. |date=26 January 2015 |website=mercedes-benz.com |access-date=10 February 2018 |archive-date=10 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180615/https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/classic/museum/exponate-benz-omnibus/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://media.daimler.com/marsMediaSite/ko/en/9361266 |title=From landau to low-frame bus: passenger transportation from 1885 to 1926 |website=media.daimler.com |access-date=10 February 2018}}</ref>

[[Image:zzz-Vik-Lond.jpg|thumb|left|Benz "Velo" model presentation in London 1898]]
In 1896, Benz was granted a patent for his design of the first [[flat engine]]. It had horizontally opposed [[piston]]s, a design in which the corresponding pistons reach top dead centre simultaneously, thus balancing each other with respect to [[momentum]]. Many flat engines, particularly those with four or fewer cylinders, are arranged as "boxer engines", ''boxermotor'' in German, and also are known as "horizontally opposed engines". This design is still used by [[Porsche]], [[Subaru]], and some high performance engines used in [[racing cars]]. In motorcycles, the most famous boxer engine is found in [[BMW Motorrad]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.designboom.com/technology/90-years-of-bmw-motorrad-an-evolution-of-the-motorcycle/ |title=90 years of BMW motorrad: an evolution of the motorcycle |date=29 May 2013 |access-date=4 July 2016 |archive-date=17 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817115750/http://www.designboom.com/technology/90-years-of-bmw-motorrad-an-evolution-of-the-motorcycle/ |url-status=live }}</ref> though the boxer engine design was used in many other models, including [[Victoria (motorcycle)|Victoria]], [[Harley-Davidson]] XA, [[Zündapp]], [[Wooler (motorcycles)|Wooler]], [[Douglas Dragonfly]], [[Ratier]], Universal, [[IMZ-Ural]], [[Dnepr (motorcycle)|Dnepr]], [[Gnome et Rhône]], [[Chang Jiang (motorcycle)|Chang Jiang]], [[Marusho]], and the [[Honda Gold Wing]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://carlbenz.idschools.kit.edu/history_of_carl_benz.php |title=KIT – Carl Benz School of Engineering – History of Carl Benz |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093827/http://carlbenz.idschools.kit.edu/history_of_carl_benz.php |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=4 July 2016}}</ref>

Although [[Gottlieb Daimler]] died in March 1900—and there is no evidence{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} that Benz and Daimler knew each other nor that they knew about each other's early achievements—eventually, competition with [[Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft]] (DMG) in [[Stuttgart]] began to challenge the leadership of Benz & Cie. In October 1900, the main designer of DMG, [[Wilhelm Maybach]], built the engine that would later be used in the ''[[Mercedes 35hp|Mercedes-35hp]]'' of 1902. The engine was built to the specifications of [[Emil Jellinek]] under a contract for him to purchase thirty-six vehicles with the engine, and for him to become a dealer of the special series. Jellinek stipulated the new engine be named Daimler-''Mercedes'' (for his daughter). Maybach would quit DMG in 1907, but he designed the model and all of the important changes. After testing, the first was delivered to Jellinek on 22 December 1900. Jellinek continued to make suggestions for changes to the model and obtained good results racing the automobile in the next few years, encouraging DMG to engage in commercial production of automobiles, which they did in 1902.

Benz countered with ''Parsifal'', introduced in 1903 with a vertical twin engine that achieved a top speed of {{convert|60|km/h|abbr=on}}. Then, without consulting Benz, the other directors hired some French designers.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsPublic/en/instance/ko/810-hp---35-hp-Benz-Parsifal-and-18-hp---3540-hp-Benz-1902--.xhtml?oid=4418 |title=8/10 hp – 35 hp Benz Parsifal and 18 hp – 35/40 hp Benz, 1902–1908 – marsPublic |access-date=4 July 2016 |archive-date=15 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815220159/https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsPublic/en/instance/ko/810-hp---35-hp-Benz-Parsifal-and-18-hp---3540-hp-Benz-1902--.xhtml?oid=4418 |url-status=live }}</ref>

France was a country with an extensive automobile industry based on Maybach's creations. Because of this action, after difficult discussions, Benz announced his retirement from design management on 24 January 1903, although he remained as director on the Board of Management through its merger with DMG in 1926 and, remained on the board of the new Daimler-Benz corporation until his death in 1929.

Benz's sons Eugen and Richard left Benz & Cie. in 1903, but Richard returned to the company in 1904 as the designer of passenger vehicles.

That year, sales of Benz & Cie. reached 3,480 automobiles, and the company remained the leading manufacturer of automobiles.

Along with continuing as a director of Benz & Cie., Benz founded another company, ''C.&nbsp;Benz Söhne'', (with his son Eugen and closely held within the family), a privately held company for manufacturing automobiles. The brand name used the first initial of Benz's first name, "Carl".{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

===Blitzen Benz===
{{Main|Blitzen Benz}}
[[Image:Blitzen Benz racing car.jpg|thumb|1909 ''Blitzen Benz''  – built by Benz & Cie., which held the [[land speed record]]]]
In 1909, the ''Blitzen Benz'' was built in Mannheim by Benz & Cie. The bird-beaked vehicle had a 21.5-liter (1312ci), {{convert|150|kW|hp|abbr=on}} engine, and on 9 November 1909 in the hands of [[Victor Hémery]] of France,<ref>Northey, Tom, "Land Speed Record", in ''The World of Automobiles'' (London: Orbis Publishing, 1974), Volume 10, p. 1163.</ref> the [[land speed record|land speed racer]] at [[Brooklands]], set a record of {{cvt|226.91|km/h}}, said to be "faster than any plane, train, or automobile" at the time, a record that was not exceeded for ten years by any other vehicle. It was transported to several countries, including the United States, to establish multiple records of this achievement.