Press Release
Raising the bar: The land-speed record reaches 228.1 km/h
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 – to the disgust 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 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.
The Blitzen-Benz spent the rest of the season decked out in “war-paint”, an imposing Imperial Eagle and thick trim lines 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 liters, the legendary Blitzen-Benz I was passed on to Stoughton Fletcher, who hired Burman to carry out the necessary conversion work over the course of 1914. In October 1915, Fletcher then sold the Blitzen to Harry Harkness.
On November 2, 1915 the car made its public return, re-badged as the “Burman Special” for a match-up against Ralph de Palma’s Sunbeam at Sheepshead Bay, New York. However, the record-breaking car of years past was barely recognizable, 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 Europe. Its journey may have taken it via Mannheim on its way to the Brooklands track in England, where it appeared in 1922 sporting 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.
The second coming
Shortly after the first record-breaking car had been shipped to America in January 1910, the engineers in Mannheim had fitted another 21.5-liter engine (no. 6257) into a chassis/grand-prix body combination. Striking features included the triangular fuel tank at the rear end. This was the model which Fritz Erle drove to victory in the sprint race in Gaillon, France on October 2, 1910, recording an average speed of 156.5 km/h to comfortably top the unrestricted racing car class and set a new record into the bargain. Shortly after his return, Erle had improvements carried out on the car, with the body brought higher up around the cockpit to offer the driver greater protection, spoked wheels with central locks added, the frame endings covered and the two seats arranged parallel to one another.
Meanwhile, a second, more aerodynamically efficient body had been constructed for the car in the style of the original Blitzen-Benz and could be fitted to the chassis as an alternative. Erle entered the car in a series of races in 1911 and 1912, alternating the body variant from race to race but without being convinced by any difference in performance.
This second-generation 200-hp Benz was also shipped over to America, although it is unclear exactly when. What is certain is that Bob Burman competed in a race with the car at Brooklyn Brighton Beach on September 7, 1912 and improved on the track record set by Blitzen-Benz I.
Benz versus Benz
The first meeting of the Blitzen took place on September 30, 1912 in St. Louis, where the two 200-hp Benz cars came face to face on the starting line. The event captured the imagination of American sports reporters, prompting rather over-the-top references to the new Blitzen as the “300-hp Jumbo-Benz”, even though both cars had the same size engine. The two cars lined up alongside each other for further record attempts on San Diego beach shortly before Christmas 1912, with the second-generation model now also afforded “Blitzen-Benz” status. During the attempt, a fire broke out on one of the cars, presumably Blitzen-Benz I, prompting the quick-thinking Burman to steer it quickly into the Pacific waters to put out the flames. Moross spent 4,000 dollars on restoring the car to its former glory.
In 1914 the Blitzen-Benz II stretched its legs over the salt lake in Bonneville, Teddy Tetzlaff recording a speed of 229.85 km/h. The car went on to compete in various races up to 1917, after which things become less clear. It is likely that the 200-hp Benz was bought in 1917 by Ralph Hankinson, a dirt-track race organizer. However, with his business subsequently entering into bankruptcy it appears that the car was snapped up by a carnival society sometime around 1919. From there the trail runs cold.
Number 3
Work on the third 200-hp Benz ever built was completed in 1912. Once again, Fritz Erle was the man at the wheel as the new car limbered up for the Gaillon Hill Climb in France on October 6. Erle was to further improve his record in the event, notching up an average speed of 163.63 km/h. Driver and car journeyed back to France for the hill climb at Limonest near Lyon on May 25, 1913, Erle taking victory in record time. The car was returned to Mannheim after the race to have the splash lubrication in its engine (no. 9141) replaced with a circulatory lubrication system.
It was then that L. G. “Cupid” Hornsted arrived on the scene in Mannheim. Inspired by success in an aging Benz racing car, the British-based Benz dealer had come to Germany to inquire about the possibility of getting his hands on a more powerful machine. The Mannheim management approved the sale of a 200-hp Benz. Hornsted immediately requested a series of modifications be made to the car, including a different radiator grille, a wind deflector and numerous technical tweaks. Bearing blue paintwork, the car made its debut at the Brooklands circuit in November 1913 and the following month Hornsted broke Héméry’s record with a speed of 118.4 km/h for the kilometer with standing start. On January 14, 1914 the Englishman racked up a total of seven new leading marks, including the highest two-way average speed – 199.3 km/h – for the half mile with flying start. Hornsted had already given a demonstration of his driving skill a week earlier, somehow regaining control of the 200-hp Benz after a puncture at around 190 km/h had launched the car into a series of spins.
The car was subsequently transported back to the Mannheim plant, where it spent the duration of the First World War under wraps in the testing department. When the fighting was over, the mechanics set about putting together serviceable 200-hp models from the materials available. Two such cars were completed, one of which was based on the chassis used for Hornsted’s Benz and fitted with a reproduction of the Blitzen-Benz II body. Among the distinctive details of the new car were the fully-covered wire spoke wheels, its sharply tapered rear end and the staggered seats. In 1922 it was brought over to Brooklands and presented to Horace V. Barlow as his works car, man and machine promptly roaring to victory in its first outing in August 1922. Competing in a different race on the same bill was Baron Count Zborowski in the Blitzen-Benz II. Then, on September 30, 1922, Captain John Duff drove Blitzen no. 3 to a fastest lap of 184.21 km/h in the “100 MPH” short-course handicap race. However, a sudden braking problem caused the car to swerve off the upper edge of the high-bank curve, the resultant impact ripping the car to pieces. The mangled wreckage was transported back to Mannheim.
