Meet Gene

[Naj ✝︎]

Seen running around Goodwood (Festival of Speed) yesterday.

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naj

[Cees Klumper]

Ehhh - I take it Gene is an Important Benz? Looks like a large-displacement engine anyhow. How old is this machine?

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[ja17]

Hello Cees,
The Blitzen Benz held the World Land Speed record for about seventeen years if I recall correctly. It was set on the sands of Daytona Beach! It had something like a four liter four cylinder engine. I saw it in tne Indianapois Speedway Museum some years ago.

Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio

[A Dalton]

http://www.thrustssc.com/thrustssc/History/Benz09.html

[Naj ✝︎]

Hi, Cees,
To add to the posts, Its building was instigated bt Dr. Hans Nibel (featured in one of the Classic Merc Mags) and Benz cars took 2nd and 3rd places at the Dieppe Grand Prix in 1908.
The 1909 prototype made 200 H.P. from its 21.5 litre 4 cylinder engine and set various speed records.
126 mph at Brooklands, 132 mph in USA and 141 mph at Daytona in 1911 driven by 'Wild' Bob Burman. L.G. Hornsted set the world land speed record of 142 mph at Brooklands in 1914.
It was quite a site to see it running at the Goodwood Hill and has a very characteristic 'tractor' sound as there is no exhaust manifold. The engine blows out straight into the air from the 4 exhaust ports.
Did a Pagoda 'gene' come from here?

naj

65 230SL
68 280SL