Used 1912 Mercedes-Benz Antique for sale in U.S.

1912 Mercedes Knight

From 1910 to 1924, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (D.M.G.) built around 5,500 automobiles with valveless slide-valve engines. They use an invention of the North American journalist and inventor Charles Yale Knight for gas exchange in the engine using sleeve valves. In the company's history of technology, the Mercedes Knight types play an absolutely special role. Paul Daimler, son of company founder Gottlieb Daimler and head of the design office since April 1907, advocates the license production of Knight engines. The reasons for this are the exceptional smoothness and sophistication of the drive, which was unusual at the time. In April 1909 a preliminary contract is signed and the D.M.G. builds a test series of six slide valve motors. In March 1910, the company then acquired the licenses to produce Knight engines for an initial period of ten years. As the first passenger car with the new engine, the D.M.G. the Mercedes-Knight 16/40 hp in December 1910 at the Paris Motor Show. Series production of this 4-liter four-cylinder car begins in early 1911. Two other types, the 10/30 hp and the 25/65 hp, go into production in 1913 and are built until 1915. DMG has been producing the Mercedes-Knight 16/40 hp for the longest time, the designation of which was changed to 16/45 hp from 1913 and to 16/50 hp from 1924 – shortly before the end of production. The disadvantages of the Knight engines are the complex construction and maintenance as well as the limited top speed of around 80 km/h. Sufficient lubrication of the cylinder and slide sliding surfaces is particularly challenging. Eventually, valve-controlled engines prevailed over the Knight system.

This Mercedes-Knight 16/40 is one of the very few running examples of this rare type. In addition, there is his fascinating biography, which, among other things, inspired lovers of classic automobiles at the Classic Days Schloss Dyck.

The open car with blue paint and black leather interior is ordered in July 1912 and delivered in the same year. The order is documented by excerpts from the existing commission book of D.M.G. reproducible. In 1913 the vehicle then went on a long journey to South America: the importer had the Mercedes Knight delivered to Rio de Janeiro, where it was sold to a coffee plantation owner. In Brazil, the elegant car with left-hand drive and four-speed manual transmission has been used for several decades and has always been treated with care. The odometer reading today shows a mileage of over 32,500 kilometers. After more than half a century, the Mercedes-Knight is being honored as a museum: the “Museu de Armas, Veículos e Máquinas Eduardo André Matarazzo” technology museum in Bebedouro near São Paulo, Brazil, shows the vehicle from the 1970s to the mid-1980s. The Mercedes Knight finally returned to Germany via England in 1986. In Germany, the extraordinary classic changed hands twice. In 2000 it was completely and very expensively restored. For example, various metal attachments are gold-plated.

The Mercedes-Knight 16/40 hp, which is well over 100 years old, includes extensive documentation of the restoration from the year 2000 and the traceable history from the order to delivery to the plantation owner.

The vehicle is ready to drive and took part in a classic rally in 2017.

Condition report with appraisal of EUR 650,000.00 / condition 1-2

Engine overhaul at Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Fellbach for approx. 45,000.00 EUR