A few more cars from the late 1800s from my photo
collection, all from the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu.
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1897 Daimler Grafton Phaeton National Motor Museum, Beaulieu Photo by Kate Tompkins |
First up is this 1897 Daimler Grafton Phaeton. If you’re thinking
there’s a connection with Mercedes-Benz, you’d be correct. An English company
(the Daimler Company) formed in 1896 had licensed the Daimler patents and was
building cars in Coventry by 1897. You can find more details on the car at the
Jaguar Heritage Trust website HERE. While, you’re there, check out the other
cars in their collection. No, despite the Coventry connection, Jaguar’s history
doesn’t go back that far.
1898 Benz Velo National Motor Museum, Beaulieu Photo by Kate Tompkins |
This 1898 Benz Velo is a German car. The Benz Velo or
Velocipede first appeared in 1894, as the successor to Karl Benz’s Patent
Motorwagen (Wikipedia). It’s considered “the world’s first large-scale production
car” with around 1,200 produced between 1894 and 1902. More details on the Benz
Velo can be found on THIS Mercedes-Benz webpage.
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1898 Cannstatt Daimler National Motor Museum, Beaulieu Photo by Kate Tompkins |
I can’t find any information online on this 1898 Cannstatt
Daimler other than THIS page by the National Motor Museum, so I’ll have to rely
on my photo of the plaque beside it at the National Motor Museum. It was built in
Bad Canstatt (hence the name) by the Daimlen Motoren Gesselschaft, a German
company founded by Gottleib Daimler and Willhelm Maybach.
It wasn’t just Canadians, Brits and Germans jumping on the motor car bandwagon. Both Fiat and Renault also started building cars in 1899. Here’s an example of each.
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1899 Fiat National Motor Museum, Beaulieu Photo by Kate Tompkins |
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1899 Renault Type A National Motor Museum, Beaulieu Photo by Kate Tompkins |