Benz teardrop car

Benz
RH (teardrop) racing car
Production period:	1923
Class :	race car
Body versions :
Engines:	Petrol engines : 2.0 liters (60-66 kW)
Length:	4530 mm
Width:	1580 mm
Height:	1130 mm
Wheelbase :	2780 mm
Empty weight :	750 kg

The Benz drop car or Benz RH car is a racing car released by Benz & Cie. in Mannheim .

prehistory

After Edmund Rumpler presented his teardrop car at the Berlin Motor Show in 1921 , Hans Nibel , Benz's chief designer , showed great interest in this revolutionary vehicle concept.

Benz acquired a license from Rumpler in 1922. As early as 1922, this collaboration resulted in the prototype of an open touring car, which largely corresponded to an open Rumpler teardrop car with Benz emblems.

vehicle

Benz then independently developed the RH racing sports car, four of which had been completed by 1923. As with Rumpler, the body was aerodynamically shaped and the engine was installed in front of the rear axle ("mid-engine"). The vehicles were powered by a 2-liter six-cylinder in-line engine with four valves per cylinder, which developed between 80 and 90 hp (59 and 66 kW). The front axle was rigid and suspended on leaf springs, the rear wheels were individually suspended with a pendulum axle . Mechanically operated drum brakes were fitted to all of the wheels.

Racing use

Three of the cars were used for the first time at the European Grand Prix at the Autodromo di Milano in Monza on September 9, 1923, where Benz and Ferdinando Minoia and Franz Hörner took fourth and fifth place respectively. In 1925, the Pforzheim merchant and private racing driver Adolf Rosenberger won the race in the Kassel Bergpark with a Benz teardrop car . With modified bodies, the Benz RH car is said to have been built as a sports car in smaller numbers and used in races.

National successes

year	run	placement	driver	reference
1924	Great Solitude Mountain Prize	5th place	Franz Horns
1925	All about the Solitude	Class win in sports and touring cars up to 8 hp / 9 hp	Adolf Rosenberger
1925	ADAC Schauinsland race	Class win in racing cars up to 5 liters	Willy Walb
1925	Feldberg race	Class win in racing cars up to 3 liters	Willy Walb

Prototype for the Auto Union racing car

Adolf Rosenberger, who, among other things, drove the RH car in his races, later - from 1932 - contributed his experience with this vehicle to the conception of the Auto-Union racing car as commercial director of the design office of Ferdinand Porsche . The Auto Union racing car from 1934 showed some similarities with the RH car.

literature

• Simsa, Paul : Sharp drops . In: Automobil- und Motorrad-Chronik , 4th year, No. 3, 1976, pp. 26–36.

Web links

Commons : Benz Drop Car  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

1. ^ HC Graf von Seherr-Thoss: The German automobile industry. A documentation from 1886 to 1979. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1979, p. 82
2. ^ Werner Oswald: Mercedes-Benz. Passenger cars 1885 to 1945. Motorbuch Verlag, 2007, pp. 58–59
3. ↑ http://wiki.mercedes-benz-classic.com/index.php/Benz-RH-Motor
4. ↑ Michael Behrndt, Jörg Thomas Födisch, Matthias Behrndt: German racing drivers . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2008, ISBN 978-3-86852-042-2 , p. 20.
5. ↑ http://wiki.mercedes-benz-classic.com/index.php/Benz-RH-Rennwagen-Historie
6. ↑ ^{a b} Solitude racing events - results lists 1922–1937 ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
7. ↑ Schauinsland Race 1925
8. ↑ Feldberg Mountain Prize for Automobiles
9. ↑ Jens Conrad: The Auto Union racing cars and record cars. August-Horch-Museum Zwickau, 2010, p. 10.
10. ↑ Harry Niemann: Benz & Cie. For the 150th birthday of Karl Benz. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, p. 137.