Benz 16 hp racing car, 1900
Even in the early days of motorsport, technical development was progressing at breakneck speed. In its 1900/01 sales programme, Benz & Cie. offered a production racing car derived from the 8 hp or 12 hp racing car, with a further increase in output, at a price of 15,000 marks. The catalogue indicated an output of 14 hp/10 kW, but the "Contra engine" actually delivered 16 hp/11.8 kW - quite simply a doubling of the output volume in little more than a year.
The additional horsepower necessitated new ways of cooling the two-cylinder boxer engine. The evaporative cooling still used in the less powerful predecessor models gave way to a closed cooling circuit in which the water was constantly circulated by means of a pump driven by the engine itself and channelled through cooling pipes arranged in a V-shape at the front of the vehicle - a functional principle that has essentially remained the same to this day.
The further technical design of the engine, with uncontrolled intake and controlled exhaust valves and centralised lubrication by means of a drip oiler, corresponded to that of the 8 hp and 12 hp versions. The same applied to the power transmission, whose cogwheel reduction gearing enabled four gear ratios, i.e. four forward gears and one reverse gear. The weight of the vehicle was 1150 kg.
In its very first sporting outing, the 136 km Eisenach - Oberhof - Meiningen - Eisenach mountain tour of May 1900, the Benz 16 hp racing car, driven by Fritz Scarisbrick from Hanau, came second after 4 hours and 23 minutes. In view of the Thuringian topography, the average speed of 30.1 km/h achieved was impressive proof of the slogan "The car overcomes all gradients", with which Benz & Cie. advertised the series version.
The 16 hp racing car also proved its exceptional competitiveness in June 1900 by winning the Nuremberg - Bamberg - Nuremberg long-distance race. With Wilhelm Schmitt at the wheel, a remarkable average speed of 51 km/h was achieved over poor, unpaved roads. This success was rounded off by Scarisbrick and Mathias Bender from Mannheim in second and third place respectively, both also in Benz 16 hp racing cars. The maximum design speed for this model was 65 km/h.