Lot 511: 1899 Benz 3½hp Velo

The first internal combustion-engined car which performed with any degree of success is generally attributed to German engineer Carl Benz and was a spindly three-wheeler with massive horizontally-mounted engine. Following Carl Benz�s first faltering run in that car in the Autumn of 1885 the German Press wrote, �this engine � v�locipede will make a strong appeal to a large circle, as it should prove itself quite practical and useful to doctors, travellers and lovers of sport.� This first effort developed not less than 0.9hp giving a top speed approaching 8mph. By 1892 Benz cars had four wheels and the V�locipede (V�lo) introduced in 1894 had a single-cylinder engine developing 1.5hp. The V�lo was the best selling car of its day and engine refinements resulted in 3 1/2hp being developed by 1895 or so. This highly successful 3 1/2hp engine was to remain the backbone of production for Benz cars through to 1900. Benz had many imitators and their products were built under licence by other European manufacturers such as Hurtu, Star and Marshall. The basic Benz design was to influence motor car production from 1885 to 1900 and only the arrival of the new �Syst�me Panhard� and also De Dion Bouton�s fast-revving vertical engines was to sound its deathknell.

In 1899 some 572 Benz motor cars were built, putting that company at the forefront of the European motor industry. In that year Charles Frederick Miles ran The Onward Motors Steam Works at 417 Brighton Road, Croydon. As well as being menders and fettlers of all things mechanical they dealt in and supplied machinery and the new-fangled motor car and were well-known cycle makers. Charles Frederick Miles was to acquire this car in 1899, perhaps as a demonstrator, and although he owned a number of other cars at around this time, the trusty Benz was to serve him well for some years. Eventually being pensioned off because of its antiquity, the car found itself languishing in a shed, providing accommodation as a roost for the family�s chickens. BY 74, for so it was registered in 1903, was to remain in the Miles family for some 104 years. Upon the demise of Charles Miles in the 1920�s BY 74 passed to his widow, Mary, and in 1933, upon Mary�s death, it passed to her son, Reg Miles.

The car took part in the very first London to Brighton �Old Crocks Race�, organised by The Daily Sketch in 1927, and subsequently participated in every run until the 1980�s. In 1980, to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain, BY 74 was selected for special display in the Ballroom at The Metropole Hotel in Brighton at the conclusion of the London to Brighton Run, thus marking its unique history and the esteem in which this car is held in veteran car circles.

This is perhaps one of the most original surviving Victorian Benz motor cars, having been only gently updated and restored during its 109 year history. It is presented in black livery with feint red coachlining, possibly the original paint. While laid up during the 1939-1945 hostilities BY 74 remarkably survived a direct bomb hit on the Onward Works, suffering only a few scratches while the main part of the garage was demolished. The original upholstery was damaged by the flying bomb and was subsequently replaced. The car still bears the supplier�s plate of The Onward Motors Steam Works and the Benz & Co., Manheim, Gasmotorenfabrik plate for Patent Motor-wagen no.559. A brass RAC badge and a Veteran Car Club badge and Dating plate are carried.

This car enjoys the distinct advantage of having the �Crypto� gear, used on Benz cars in 1899 and 1900 to assist hill climbing. This gear also significantly improves the starting from rest technique, eliminating the forward lurch, so common on belt-cum-chain drive cars of this era.

BY 74 was sold by Bonhams on behalf of the Miles family in April 2003 at The Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon, changing hands then for only the first time since acquisition by Charles Miles in 1899. It comes to the market again only because of a change in the present owner�s plans. It is now over twenty years since BY 74 has taken to the road and the usual careful recommissioning will be required. This remarkable Victorian motor car, with its wonderful matured patina and outstanding ownership history is dated by the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain (Certificate no.71) and comes with a Swansea registration document for its original number issued by Croydon County Borough Council. A car of undoubted provenance and an early starter from Hyde Park on the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.