New release by Scale Figures
Karl Friedrich Benz (Carl Benz) 1:18
limited to 50. SF118009
Karl Friedrich Benz (Carl Benz) 1:18
limited to 50. SF118009
Carl Benz was born the son of an engineer on November 25, 1844 in
Karlsruhe. His father died when Carl was barely two years old. Despite
being relatively poor, his mother ensured he had a good education. Carl
Benz attended high school before going on to study at a technical
college in Karlsruhe under the tutorship of Ferdinand Redtenbacher. This
course of study was followed by a two year traineeship at a mechanical
engineering company in Karlsruhe. Whilst he was there, Benz gained basic
experience in all areas of work.
His first employment followed, as a draftsman and
designer at a scales manufacturing factory in Mannheim. When he lost
his job in 1868 he moved to the "Gebrüder Benckiser Eisenwerke und
Maschinenfabrik" company which was concerned mostly with bridge
construction. His interest in motor vehicles was sparked, as so often is
the case, by the bicycle.
His employment at Benckiser was followed by a short period spent working in Vienna, also at an iron construction firm.
In 1871, the technically-minded Benz founded his
first company in Mannheim with a mechanic by the name of August Ritter.
The workshop had a typical Mannheim address: T 6, 11. It was, however,
soon to become clear that Ritter was not a very reliable partner. It was
only with the help of his fiancée, Bertha Ringer, that Benz was able to
overcome this obstacle. Without further hesitation she paid in her
dowry to buy Ritter out of the business.
In 1872 Bertha Ringer and Carl Benz were married.
Bertha Benz emerged as a crucial player in the future success of the
fledgling company and undertook the world's first long-distance journey
in an automobile. Carl and Bertha Benz had five children: Eugen (*1873),
Richard (*1874), Clara (*1877), Thilde (*1882) and Ellen (*1890).
Carl Benz's business did not enjoy the best of
fortunes at first. For example, his "Iron-foundry and mechanical
workshop", which Benz later renamed "Factory for production of
metal-working machinery" had its tools confiscated by the bailiffs.
During this period Carl Benz concentrated on developing the two-stroke
engine, in order to find another way of earning a living.
After two years of development his first
stationary engine finally spluttered into life on New Year's Eve 1879.
It was a two-stroke model as the company Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz had
already been awarded a German patent for the four-stroke version in
1877, thanks largely to the work of Nikolaus August Otto.
Benz received several original patents for
perfecting his two-stroke engine, which he worked on until he achieved
series production standards. For example, one of these patents was
awarded for the engine speed regulation system. He used his
newly-developed battery ignition system to induce combustion in the
engine.
With new investors and partners in the Mannheim
court photographer Emil Bühler and his brother, a cheese merchant,
together with the financial support of the banks, Benz converted the
company into a joint-stock company in 1882 and called the company
"Gasmotoren-Fabrik Mannheim". Carl Benz had a mere 5 percent stake in
the company, was "only" classed as director and was not the main
supplier of ideas. His partners in the firm were also trying to exert
increasing influence on his designs and a combination of these factors
led Benz to leave the new company by 1883.
Later that year Benz found a different source of
financial support in Max Rose and Friedrich Wilhelm Eßlinger who ran a
shop in Mannheim which sold, among other things, bicycles and who Benz
met through his interest in cycling. In October the three men founded
the company "Benz & Co. Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik". The workforce
soon expanded to 25 men and the company grew to the point where it was
even able to grant licenses for the production of gas engines. Benz
could now devote himself one hundred percent to the development of his
car engine. Financially secure, he took a different route from Daimler,
who installed his engine into a carriage, by first designing a complete
vehicle in which he could house his four-stroke gasoline engine.
In 1886 he was granted Patent 37.435 for the
vehicle and unveiled his first to the public. Between 1885 and 1887
three versions of the three-wheeler were designed: the Model 1, which
Benz donated to the Deutsches Museum in 1906, the Model 2, which was
probably altered and rebuilt several times, and lastly the Model 3 with
wood-spoked wheels which Bertha Benz took on the first long distance
journey in 1888.
By 1886 the existing production facilities could
no longer cope with the insatiable demand for stationary engines and
"Benz & Co. Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik" moved to a larger factory
building in Waldhofstrasse in which motor vehicle engines were
manufactured until 1908. The appearance in 1890 of new partners,
Friedrich von Fischer and Julius Ganß, marked the growth of "Rheinische
Gasmotoren-Fabrik" into Germany's second-largest engine factory. In 1893
Carl Benz introduced the axle-pivot steering system into automobile
construction and in 1896 he developed the "contra" engine which was to
become the precursor to today's horizontally opposed engine.
Between 1894 and 1901 the Benz "Velo" was built
at Benz & Co. It was a reasonably-priced, light automobile for two
people which signaled the breakthrough to higher sales and, with a total
production unit figure of some 1200, can be legitimately described as
the first series production car. As the turn of the century approached
Benz & Co. had grown into the world's leading automobile
manufacturer.
In 1899 the firm was converted into a joint-stock
company. Julius Ganß joined Carl Benz on the Board of Management
becoming the member responsible for commercial matters. The vehicle
construction workforce grew from 50 in 1890 to 430 by 1899. In this year
alone Benz built 572 vehicles.
On January 24, 1903 Carl Benz announced his
retirement from active work within the company, taking a seat on the
Supervisory Board. His departure was the result of internal wrangling in
the company caused by the management's decision to employ a group of
French designers in the Mannheim plant, with the aim of facing up to the
competition from Mercedes.
Carl Benz's two sons Eugen and Richard also left
with him, although Richard returned to Mannheim in 1904 as passenger car
production manager. By the end of the year sales of Benz motor cars had
reached 3480.
In 1906 Carl Benz founded in Ladenburg and, with
his son Eugen, became the joint owner. At first, they planned to build
naturally aspirated gas engines. However, times were changing quickly
and demand for this type of engine dwindled. This necessitated a change
of tack to vehicle construction and by 1923 some 350 "Carl Benz Söhne"
vehicles had been produced. In the meantime, the Benz family had
relocated to Ladenburg.
In 1912 Carl Benz left the company as a partner,
leaving his sons Eugen and Richard to run the business alone. The
company expanded further and branched out into other markets, for
example into England where the "Benz Söhne" vehicles were often employed
as taxis and where their reliability earned them great popularity. In
1923 the last vehicle was built, followed only by two 8/25 hp vehicles a
year later which Carl Benz kept for his own business and personal use.
He enjoyed using both cars and never sold them. They have been preserved
right up to the present day. In contrast to Gottlieb Daimler, who died
in 1900, Carl Benz was there to witness the blossoming of motorization
and to see the products of his inspiration.
He died on April 4, 1929 in his home in
Ladenburg. Today this house is used by the "Carl Benz and Gottlieb
Daimler Foundation" as their headquarters and as a location for a range
of events.
About this time he took up racing and in 1919 he finished ninth at the Targa Florio. Through his friend Ugo Sivocci he got a job with Alfa Romeo who entered some modified production cars in the 1920 
After some more success he was promoted to full factory driver. His racing career up till that time mostly consisted of local races in second hand cars but now he was expected to compete driving the latest cars at the years most prestigious race the French Grand Prix. What happened next is not quite clear but it seems that Ferrari suffered a crisis of confidence and was not able to take part in the the biggest race of his career. A lesser man may have been permanently scared by this but Ferrari was able to resume his position at Alfa Romeo becoming Rimini's "Mr. Fixit". He did not race again until 1927 but his racing career was pretty much over before it really began. Recognizing one's limits in this most dangerous of sports should not be minimized. He continued to compete in minor events and in this he was quite successful. Ferrari by this time was married and owned a Alfa distributorship in Modena. In 1929 Ferrari started his own firm, Scuderia Ferrari. He was sponsored in this enterprise by the Ferrara-based Caniano brothers, Augusto and Alfredo, heirs to a textile fortune. Alfa Romeo had temporarily withdrawn from racing in 1925 and the Scuderia’s main task was to assist his wealthy Alfa Romeo customers with their racing efforts by providing delivery, mechanical support and any other services that they would require. With Alfa Romeo he exchanged a guarantee of technical assistance with stock in his company. Ferrari then made similar deals with Bosch, Pirelli and Shell. To supplement his "stable" of amateur drivers he induced Giuseppe Campari to join his team. He followed this with an even greater coup by signing Tazio Nuvolari. In his first year the Scuderia Ferrari could boast 50 full and part-time drivers! The team competed in 22 events and scored 8 victories and several good placings. Scuderia Ferrari caused a sensation. It was the largest team ever put together by one individual. None of the drivers were paid a salary but received a percentage of the prize money won. Any extra technical or administrative assistance a driver required was gladly given for a price. The basic plan called for the driver to get to the race and his car would be delivered to the track and any entrance fees or duties were handled by the Scuderia. It is not surprising that Ferrari would look fondly back upon this period. It is also not out of the question that if anyone could survive as an independent in the current Formula One world then the younger Ferrari would be that man. 
Alfa Romeo would continue to support the Scuderia either as a client or as the official racing department of the factory. But soon everything would change as Alfa Rome announced another withdrawal; from racing starting with the 1933 season due to financial problems. At first this seemed to be just the opening that Ferrari needed but then it was realized that their own supply of new racing cars would soon dry up. Luckily for the Scuderia, Pirelli interceded and convinced Alfa to supply Ferrari with six P3's and the services of engineer Luigi Bazzi and test driver Attilio Marinoni. The Scuderia would now be in effect Alfa Romeo's racing department. In 1932 his first son also named Alfredo after his father, and known as Dino was born, and Ferrari took this opportunity to retire from driving. A more professional turn was also taken by the team. This upset Alfredo Caniato and he was bought out by Count Carlo Felice Trossi who was a part-time driver as well as a full-time millionaire. All looked set for Ferrari to make his true mark on the racing scene. What he did not count on was a German tidal wave in the form of Auto Union and Mercedes. In 1935 Ferrari signed the French driver Rene Dreyfus who most recently drove for Bugatti. He was struck by the difference between his old team and Ferrari. 
"The difference between being a member of the Bugatti team and Scuderia Ferrari was virtually night and day, recalled Dreyfus. I lived with Meo Constantini, the Bugatti team manager, I visited with Ferrari. "With Ferrari, I learned the business of racing, for there was no doubt he was a businessman. Enzo Ferrari was a pleasant person and friendly, but not openly affectionate. There was, for example, none of the sense of belonging to the family that I had with the Maserati brothers, nor the sense of spirited fun and intimacy that I had with Meo Constantini. Enzo Ferrari loved racing, of that there was no question. Still, it was more than an enthusiast’s love, but one tempered by the practical realization that this was a good way to build a nice, profitable empire. I knew he was going to be a big man one day, even then when the cars he raced carried somebody else’s name. I felt sure that eventually they would carry his.
Except for Nuvolari's great victory in the 1935 German Grand Prix, victories in any of the major races were few and far between. During these years his team faced the German might of Auto Union and Mercedes. On one occasion Ferrari had the opportunity to passenger the great Nuvolari. At the trials on the "Three Provinces" Circuit, when he asked his companion (Ferrari was also driving there with a more powerful car than the Mantuan's) to take him with him. It should be added that Nuvolari did not know that circuit. "At the first bend," Ferrari writes, "I had the clear sensation that Tazio had taken it badly and that we would end up in the ditch; I felt myself stiffen as I waited for the crunch. Instead, we found ourselves on the next straight with the car in a perfect position. I looked at him," Ferrari goes on. "His rugged face was calm, just as it always was, and certainly not the face of someone who had just escaped a hair-raising spin. I had the same sensation at the second bend. By the fourth or fifth bend I began to understand; in the meantime, I had noticed that through the entire bend Tazio did not lift his foot from the accelerator, and that, in fact, it was flat on the floor. 
As bend followed bend, I discovered his secret. Nuvolari entered the bend somewhat earlier than my driver's instinct would have told me to. But he went into the bend in an unusual way: with one movement he aimed the nose of the car at the inside edge, just where the curve itself started. His foot was flat down, and he had obviously changed down to the right gear before going through this fearsome rigmarole. In this way he put the car into a four-wheel drift, making the most of the thrust of the centrifugal force and keeping it on the road with the traction of the driving wheels. Throughout the bend the car shaved the inside edge, and when the bend turned into the straight the car was in the normal position for accelerating down it, with no need for any corrections." Ferrari honestly admits that he soon became used to this exercise, because he saw Nuvolari do it countless times. "But each time I seemed to be climbing into a roller coaster and finding myself coming through the downhill run with that sort of dazed feeling that we all know." 
The Ferrari of the Scuderia years was very much the hands on team manager quite unlike the Ferrari of later years when he did not attend any of the race and was given information over the telephone and in reports from his employees. Ferrari continued to be successful after he stopped attending the races but it is not hard to imagine that in this were the seeds of Ferrari’s future decline. 
Production sports cars were also an important endeavor for Ferrari but in marked difference with other car manufacturers, racing was not used to sell more cars, rather cars were sold so that the team could go racing! Many of the cars that were sold were last year’s models to private entrants. Ferrari was not a sentimental person when it came to his cars and those that were not sold were turned to scrap or scavenged for parts. Ferraris would become common feature at all major sports car events including Le Mans, the Targa Florio and the Mille Miglia. It was at the Mille Miglia that Ferrari would claim some of its greatest victories. In 1948 Nuvolari already in bad health was scheduled to drive a Cisitalia but the car was not ready in time. Ferrari gave him a car intended for Count Igor Troubetzkoy, an open Ferrari 166C. Nuvolari realizing that his body was failing him drove as if the devil himself was in pursuit. By the time the field reached Ravenna, Nuvolari was already in the lead. Despite losing his fender and later the engine bonnet nothing could stop the "Flying Mantuan". By the time he reached Florence he was more than have an hour ahead of Ferrari’s normal lead driver. The seat had come lose from his car to be replaced by a sack of oranges and still he drove on driving faster and faster. Some in the crowd began to fear that the "Great Little Man", knowing that time was running out was determined to die behind the wheel. Ferrari at one of the last control stops saw the state of his driver and with tears in his eyes begged his friend to stop. For even though they had at various times been at each other’s throats each understood the other. Nuvolari was the last driver that could look Ferrari in the eye as an equal. Finally at Reggio Emilia what no competitor could ever accomplish, Nuvolari was beaten by a broken spring. Exhausted he had to be carried from his car. 
During the 1952-53 seasons there was a shortage of Formula 1 cars so the World Championship would be staged for Formula 2 cars. The Ferrari Tipo 500 would dominate the championships both years. In the hands of double World Champion Alberto Ascari Ferrari would win 9 races. For 1954 Ascari left Ferrari and joined Lancia where he would drive one of the the Jano-designed D50s. Lancia's hopes for a title were dashed first when the car was late in arriving and fatally when Ascari died testing a Ferrari sportscar. Lancia was forced to withdraw and Fiat their parent company turned over all of Lancia's cars over to Ferrari also including their designer Vittorio Jano! Ferrari's next challenge came from the new British teams. Guy Vandervell supplied Ferrari with the special ThinWall bearings that were used in all of their engines. Vandervell had been a part of the BRM group but quit in disgust. After purchasing and racing a pair of Ferrari's he built his own cars that eventually beat the Italian cars. It was only by outlasting the Vanwalls, as the cars were named was Ferrari able to climb back on top. But this was only the beginning of the British invasion. These manufacturers did not produce their own engines but concentrated on chassis design and aerodynamics, areas of traditional weakness for Ferrari. During this period Ferrari began to produce his famous Gran Turismo car in conjunction with Battista "Pinin" Farina. Victories at Le Mans and other long distance races made Ferrari famous the world over. The demands of producing winning sportscars and Grand Prix cars was proving to much for the relatively small company. In the sixties John Surtees the 1964 World Champion in a Ferrari would complain that Ferrari’s involvement in sports car racing was hindering its Formula One efforts. Surtees explains "At Ferrari in those days you started with a handicap. Until Le Mans was over you couldn't really do the work you wanted to do - and needed to do - in Formula One. 
In 1969 Ferrari faced severe financial strains. Their cars were still much sought after but they were unable to produce enough to meet the demand and maintain their racing program. To their rescue came Fiat and the Agnelli family. Ferrari was still in charge but a new paymaster was on board. It was with the background of Fiat's manufacturing and aerospace empire that Ferrari was criticized for not dominating their smaller British rivals. Another genius, Colin Chapman was at his peak.
Enzo Ferrari would not live to see that day; he died at the age of 90 in 1988.