Daimler Motorlastwagen
1896 · Motor Lorry · Work 247 of 1,871
The Daimler Motorlastwagen in a factory yard, flat wooden cargo bed carried on leaf springs, two-cylinder Phoenix engine mounted at the rear beneath the platform, chain final drive, crates loaded.
- What it was used for
- According to the Mercedes-Benz archive, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft of Cannstatt delivered its first lorry on 1 October 1896. It was designed for a 1,500 kg payload; the archive gives a 4 hp two-cylinder engine, Mercedes-Benz Trucks a top speed of 12 km/h. The buyer was the British Motor Syndicate in London. According to Grace's Guide its purpose was to buy up patents – in 1896 it claimed to hold 70 – and sell licences; dividends were paid out of licence royalties. Renamed British Motor Company in December 1897, it received a winding-up order in June 1898. What the syndicate did with the lorry is not documented in the sources checked.
- What was new
- Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Truck call it the world's first truck. Others were on the same task that year: Daimler Truck itself lists an 1896 Benz delivery van with about 600 kg payload, and a Thornycroft one-ton steam van had already made trial runs by November 1896. What was new was not the type of vehicle but a petrol engine carrying 1.5 tonnes on the chassis of the belt-driven car. The archive gives 4 hp.