The Daimler Engine[edit]

In late 1883, Daimler and Maybach patented the first of their engines fueled by Ligroin. This
engine was patented on December 16, 1883. It achieved Daimler's goal of being small and
running fast enough to be useful at 750 rpm (soon after up to 900). Daimler had three engines
built in 1884. Maybach persuaded him to put one in a vehicle, the result being the Reitwagen.[3][self-
published source][4]

In 1884, Maybach's second son Adolf was born.

The Grandfather Clock engine (1885)[edit]

By the end of 1885, Maybach and Daimler developed the first of their engines, which is regarded
as a precursor to all modern petrol engines. It featured:

• single vertical cylinder

• air cooling
• large cast-iron flywheel
• revolutionary hot tube ignition (Patent 28022)
• exhaust valve controlled by a camshaft allowing high speeds
• a speed of 600 rpm, when at the time most engines could only achieve about 120 to 180 rpm.
In 1885, they created the first carburetor, which mixed evaporated gasoline with air to allow its
efficient use as fuel. It was used that year on a larger but still compact version of the engine, now
with a vertical cylinder, that featured:

• 1 Horsepower at 600 rpm output

• 100 cc engine displacement
• non cooled insulated cylinder with unregulated hot-tube ignition (patent DRP-28-022)
Daimler baptized it the Standuhr (Grandfather Clock) because of its resemblance to a pendulum
clock.
In November 1885, Daimler installed a smaller version of the engine into a wooden bicycle,
creating the first motorcycle (patent 36-423 - Vehicle with gas or petroleum engine), and Maybach
drove it three kilometers from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim, reaching 12 km/h (7.5 mph). It became
known as the Reitwagen.
On 8 March 1886, the inventors bought an American model coach built by Wilhelm Wimpff &
Sohn, telling the neighbors that it was a birthday gift for Mrs. Daimler. Maybach supervised the
installation of an enlarged 1.5 hp Grandfather Clock engine into the coach, and installed a belt
drive to the wheels. The vehicle reached 15 km/h (9.3 mph) when tested on the road to
Untertürkheim.[5]
Maybach and Daimler went on to prove the engine in many other ways, including:

• On water (1887). It was mounted in a 4.5-metre-long boat which achieved 6 knots (11 km/h).
The boat was called the Neckar after the river it was tested on and was registered as patent
number DRP 39-367. Motor boat engines would become their main product until the first
decade of the 1900s.
• More road vehicles, including street cars
• In the air. They built the first motorized airship, a balloon based on designs by Dr. Friedrich
Hermann Wölfert from Leipzig. They replaced his hand-operated drive system and flew over
Seelberg successfully on 10 August 1888.
By 1887 they were licensing their first patents abroad, and Maybach represented the company at
the great Paris Exposition Universelle (1889).
First Daimler-Maybach automobile built (1889)[edit]
Steel Wheel Automobile 1889

· high speed four-stroke petrol engine

· fuel vaporization

· 2 cylinders V-configured

· mushroom shaped valves

· water-cooled

· 4-speed toothed gearbox

· pioneer axle-pivot steering system

Sales increased, mostly from the Neckar motorboat. In June 1887, Daimler bought land in the
Seelberg Hills of Cannstatt. The workshop was some distance from the town on Ludwig Route
67, because Cannstatt's mayor objected to the presence of the workshop in the town. It covered
2,903 square meters and cost 30,200 goldmarks. They initially employed 23 people. Daimler
managed the commercial issues and Maybach the design department.
In 1889 they built their first automobile to be designed from scratch rather than as an adaptation
of a stagecoach. It was publicly launched by both inventors in Paris in October 1889.
Daimler's engine licenses began to be taken up throughout the world, starting the modern car
industry in:

• France, 1890, Panhard & Levassor and Peugeot

• United Kingdom, 1896, The Daimler Motor Company of Coventry
• United States of America, 1891, Steinway
• Austro-Daimler in Austria, starting in 1899