FEATURE - 1903 Mercedes-Simplex 60hp

Words: Mike Ryan

Photos: Mathieu Heurtault and Hanna Yamamoto. Copyright and courtesy of Gooding & Company

When you see ads for old cars stating ‘one family owned’, you may think 40 years, 50 or perhaps even 60 in the family. Cars pass from father to son often and sometimes reach a third generation, too. However, the auction of a significant veteran car earlier this year busted any notions of what long-term ownership means, coming onto the market after four generations and 121 years with the same family. Yes, 121 years!

Before there was Mercedes-Benz, there was Mercedes. And before there was Mercedes there was Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG), the rather uninspiring name for the venture that automotive pioneers Wilhelm Maybach and Gottlieb Daimler established in 1890.

From a mechanical standpoint, DMG products were reliable and innovative, but they needed a little flair to appeal to what was then a very exclusive clientele. Enter Emil Jellinek…

The Man (and Girl) Behind the Name

Born in Germany, but raised in Austria, Jellinek landed a role in the diplomatic corps of the Austro-Hungarian empire when he was still a teenager. Subsequent work in the insurance industry and trading on the stock market provided enough wealth for Jellinek and his family to relocate from Austria to Nice on the French Riviera. That family included two sons, Adoplh and Fernand, and a daughter, Mercedes.

In the early 1890s, Jellinek returned to diplomatic service as Austria-Hungary’s Consul General in Nice. He was also selling cars by this time, mainly to well-heeled members of the European aristocracy who holidayed in the French coastal city.

In 1896, Jellinek travelled to DMG’s workshop in Germany and ordered a Phoenix-Daimler (DMG's main product  at this time) with a double phaeton body. Two years later, he became the official agent for DMG in Nice.

Stronger, Faster, Better

While the Phoenix was mechanically advanced, it was bland stylistically and a challenge to drive, especially in the sporting car competitions that were gaining favour at the time and becoming great avenues for carmakers to promote their vehicles. Sensing an opportunity to improve DMG’s fortunes – as well as his own – Jellinek implored Daimler and Maybach to develop a new, sportier automobile that addressed failings he saw in the Phoenix. As a carrot, he committed to buying the first 36 examples DMG built, plus a further 36 units of the existing Phoenix-Daimler model - a significant order back then. Jellinek also insisted on a name change for the new car, to that of his daughter, in the belief that ‘Mercedes’ would have wider appeal. There were also some licensing issues over the use of ‘Daimler’ in France that a name change would avoid.

Whether Jellinek was very persuasive, or the 72-car order was too good to refuse, DMG adopted his two major requests, developing an improved car and renaming it, with the ‘Mercedes 35hp’ making its debut at the end of 1900.

As the name made clear, the first Mercedes produced 35hp (26kW), which seems meagre by modern standards but was powerful in 1900 and more than four times the output of DMG’s Phoenix 8hp. The Mercedes engine was a 5.9-litre four-cylinder unit, positioned low in the chassis to improve the centre of gravity. The chassis itself was designed to maximise sporting performance, aided by a long wheelbase and wide track.

Jellinek had sold the first Mercedes 35hp even before it landed in Nice, while its subsequent victories in the region’s enduro, sprint, hill climb and touring races sent demand skyrocketing. Some of these victories were achieved by Jellinek himself, while the orders coming in allowed DMG to develop an improved model.

Improved, then improved again

Launched in 1901, the ‘Mercedes-Simplex 40hp’ was more powerful than its predecessor, while the addition of the ‘Simplex’ suffix was intended to convey how simple the car was to operate. Variants with smaller engines and/or reduced horsepower were added in 1902, but it was the big sporting models that captured the most attention and acclaim. That would continue with the next evolution of the 40hp.

The ‘Mercedes-Simplex 60hp’ (45kW) that followed in late 1902 featured a hike in engine capacity to 9.25 litres, while overhead intake valves improved combustion efficiency. Top speed in the region of 80mph (128km/h) with a lightweight, two-seat body made the 60hp one of the fastest cars of its time, but even with a larger, heavier touring body, more than 60mph (100km/h) was easily achievable.

The 60hp made Mercedes a household name among wealthy sporting motorists on the Continent, as well as in the US and UK, with DMG ultimately producing 102 examples. Customers included Baron Henri de Rothschild (also the initial 35hp customer), William Vanderbilt and Count Louis Zborowski, who would partly inspire Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Another customer was Alfred C.W. Harmsworth, a British publishing magnate and founder of the Daily Mail newspaper. The 60hp featured here was purchased new by Harmsworth and remained in his family for a long, long, long time.

Long Drives and Longer Display

Harmsworth already had 15 cars in his garage (including a Mercedes-Simplex 40hp), when he placed an order for the new Mercedes-Simplex 60hp. At the 1903 Nice speed week, DMG engineer and driver Hermann Braun set a new event speed record in Harmsworth’s car. Soon after, it was victorious at an Irish hillclimb event with a different driver behind the wheel.

Within a year of purchase, Harmsworth decided to replace the body on his 60hp with a ‘Roi des Belges’ touring body – a style inspired by a Panhard et Lavassor double phaeton that double phaeton that French coachbuilder, J Rothschild et Fils, had created for King Leopold II of Belgium in 1901. Unsurprisingly, Harmsworth selected the same coachbuilder to rebody his Mercedes-Simplex 60hp.

With its new look, the 60hp became one of Harmsworth’s favourite cars and he used it frequently on tours throughout Great Britain, as well as on the Continent.

With Harmsworth’s passing in 1922, the 60hp passed to his son, Alfred J.F.A. ‘John’ Harmsworth, who was just as passionate about cars, with a Mercedes SSK and Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 of his own. Diligent maintenance by John Harmsworth ensured the car remained usable, including on a trip to Belgium in 1958 for the Brussels Word Fair and several editions of the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run for pre-1905 cars.

Soon after Lord Montagu opened the now famous Beaulieu Motor Museum in the mid-1950s, the Harmsworth car was put on display there. For nearly seven decades, from 1956 to 2023, the 60hp was a featured display at Beaulieu, but remained in the possession of the Harmsworth family.

In 1987, the car passed to John Harmsworth’s daughter, Angela, then the fourth generation of the family, who consigned it for sale – after 121 years of family ownership – in the Gooding & Company Amelia Island auction this past March.

A New Record

Ahead of Gooding & Co’s Amelia Island sale, the record for a veteran car sold at auction stood at US$4.8 million (AU$6.9M approx.) for a 1912 Simplex Torpedo Tourer, achieved by Bonhams at their Scottsdale auction in 2023. But even before Gooding & Co’s March event, many were predicting this record would be broken by the Harmsworth family's 60hp. Gooding themselves expected it would sell for more than US$10 million (AU$15.3M approx.) and set a US$5 million starting bid.

Such high expectations can be put down to the unchallenged provenance of the car, its connection to to several significant motoring events, single family ownership from new, its condition and rarity – of the 120 examples of the Mercedes-Simplex 60hp produced, only five survive today.

“This Mercedes-Simplex 60hp is one of the most significant early cars that has ever been brought to market, and its presentation for public sale heralds a truly historic moment for the collector car world,” said Gooding & Company President and Co-Founder, David Gooding, ahead of the auction.

“We have never before offered a car that has remained in single family ownership as long as this Mercedes has, and that it is one of the cornerstones of the entire Mercedes marque makes this an incredibly important occasion.”

The final sale price of US$12.1 million (AU$18.52M approx.), not only reset the record price for a veteran car sold at auction, it also bettered the total achieved by any pre-1930 car and, according to Gooding & Co., was the first antique car of any type to sell for more than US$10 million.

For more details, go to: goodingco.com