Avoid The Pitfalls Of Auto Insurance
Getting insurance for a car is compulsory and is required by law. When a person buys a new car he is happy to be the owner of a cherished thing. He goes ahead and buys insurance for his car after checking various options, analyzing them and then reaching a decision. He is on cloud nine thinking that his car is safe and protected and in case of any harm to his car he has his insurance policy to fall back on.
It’s human nature to want to trust. We go into a business with confidence that the person inside knows what they are doing, and wouldn’t lead us astray. This often leads to anxieties and dissapointment in the end when we learn this isn’t always the case.
Some people buy car insurance as it is required by law. What people generally do is they log on to the internet and obtain cheap car insurance quote. They compare these quotes and buy a cheap car insurance policy for themselves. They do not go into the details and just remain ignorant about the vital aspects of their insurance policy.
You must read the fine print when purchasing auto insurance! That great premium you recieve a quote for might be hiding sub standard care in the case of an accident! There is a great chance that the small amount you save on your premium offers much less coverage and hence much less return in the event of a problem.
Many car insurance companies offer incentives such as road side assistance and free rental cars. You may one day be shocked to find out after an accident that the road side assistance your offered can sometimes come at a high premium! Make sure to read the fine print to see exactly what’s covered, don’t be stuck on the side of the road distressed with nowhere to go!
Those rental car promises look good in writing, however in many cases these \”free\” cars only apply for the first few days after your accident, leaving you with a pretty steep bill if your car takes longer to repair than they think it should!
Many times we store valuables in our car, secure with the idea that no one will touch them. How many times have you left your laptop, cell phone, or large amounts of cash in your car and walked away? Did you know that your car insurance only covers the actual car in the event of theft or damage? You could be stuck with the replacement cost of your valuables!
Remember, you get what you pay for. When purchasing auto insurance, always ask questions! Who is covered to drive my car under this policy, what exactly is covered in case of accident? Always always remember to read the fine print! It can mean the difference between a horrible nightmare, or a minor inconvenience when involved in an accident.
Hydrogen Gas Fuel - Versatile Energy Source
Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical element on the planet. It is found in water and almost every other natural material and in every living thing. Algae, plants, and composting material are all rich sources of hydrogen. The abundance of hydrogen means that it is viewed as a potential source of fuel for many man-made machines. For instance, hydrogen gas fuel can theoretically replace fossil fuels in most of their uses without being concerned with depleting the resource considerably. Separating hydrogen from its chemical bond to these elements produces hydrogen gas fuel. Heat and water are the only emissions produced when mixing this purest form of hydrogen gas fuel with pure oxygen and igniting it, which is as environmentally friendly as you can get.
There are pros and cons involved with each of the different methods of distilling hydrogen to its purest form, which include emissions created from the refining process, and finding an efficient and cost-effective way to produce hydrogen gas fuel. In the United States, steam methane reforming is the method most commonly used at this time and involves heating natural gas at varying temperatures to extract the hydrogen.
It will take quite a lot of capital to establish the infrastructure required to make hydrogen gas fuel on a scale to satisfy a large part of the world’s energy needs. Hydrogen can be separated from water through electrolysis, a process which passes an electric current through the water. Using electricity produced from windmills, solar panels, or other sources will allow hydrogen generation on a much larger and environmentally-friendly scale. Choosing a location for a hydrogen production facility raises geographic concerns. Because there are no greenhouse gas emissions in producing hydrogen gas fuel, the electrolysis method is worth the investment.
Hydrogen’s versatility allows it to be stored and transported as either a liquid or gas. In vapor form, it is possible to transport hydrogen gas fuel up to a distance of two hundred miles from the facility. In liquid form, hydrogen gas fuel can withstand transporting up to one thousand miles if placed in super-insulated tanks.
Of all the different types of fuels, hydrogen gas fuel has the highest energy to weight ratio. In comparison to gasoline, hydrogen produces approximately three times more energy without the ill effects of carbon dioxide and sulfur emissions and more than six times more energy than we can get from coal.
Hydrogen gas has much better and more efficient combustion through a larger range of air fuel mixtures than gasoline. Hydrogen gas fuel has an octane rating of 130 and this is higher than the highest octane gasoline available at present at the gas station.
Hydrogen gas fuel could help us power nearly anything - from large cities to cellular phones, moped to rocket ships while still being eco-friendly. Transport vehicles can be designed to run on hydrogen gas fuel or retrofitted to be able to use it. As gasoline prices continue to rise, we will soon see if hydrogen gas fuel will be a workable replacement for gasoline. Provided the right structures can be set in place and continued research continues apace, it may be the solution to creating an abundant and environmentally fuel.
What About Unique Car Audio Stores
For the car lover there is nothing as satisfying as a car that has all of the latest accessories installed. You can use their warehouse or shop section to see the different car audio that you like. One item that many car owners want is a great sounding audio system. When you type in the words car audio stores your favorite search engine will display many different pages that are filled with links that you can access.
Now even though you are initially going to do some research the internet may tempt you to buy some of their goods from these car audio stores. Their comments can help you to avoid car audios that will give you many problems. To avoid this you should know a few facts about different car audio systems.
So what should you do once you reach these various car audio stores? You should find a sales assistant who can help you out and answer various questions that you may have regarding the different car audios that you see. You should wait until you have reached a few more car audio stores before you decide what types of car audio system you wan to have installed in your car.
Whenever we buy a new car or even a second hand car we start changing certain items in the car and personalizing our car. Now the mere fact that you are looking to buy your car audio wholesale doesn’t imply that you are going to buy the same audio system a large number of times. The changes don’t even have to be very large they just show off our character. Likewise there are still many others who love to listen to music as they drive.
This way when you install all of these parts that you have purchased from a car audio wholesale dealer you have the assurance that you will not need to buy any other part at least for a while. That is unless you have bought the wrong car audio models or defective parts. With this information you can make sure that when you go to the car audio wholesale dealers that you can choose the right car audio and see if this and the other parts that you want will work in your car.
Once you have chosen the right parts for your car audio you should find out what sort of guarantee you can get from these car audio wholesale stores. All that is required is for you to install these various audio parts in your car and see if you end up with a great working car audio system. Once you have tested these new car audio parts out you can mark this car audio wholesale store as being a reliable place to buy great car audio parts.
Harley 883 - The First Step To Owning A Harley Davidson
Although Harley Davidson has been making Sportster motorcycles since 1957, the Harley 883 version was not actually introduced to the market until 1986. Today if you are looking for a Harley Davidson that is not going to break the bank then definitely the 883 may be the Harley for you.
Today there are eight different models of the Sportster Harley Davidson available along with the four versions of the 883 there are three versions of the 1200 and of course the XL50. The XL 50 was introduced to the market as a celebration of Harley Davidson producing the Sportster for 50 years.
The four versions of the 883 Sportster that are now offered by one of the most well recognized custom motorcycles in the world today are as follows:-
1. Harley Davidson XL Sportster 883 - Of all the motorcycles in this family this particular model is the cheapest. You will expect to pay from $6,595 up to $7,990 for this one. 2. Harley Davidson XL Sportster 883 Low - Although not as cheap as the previous model mentioned you still will easily get change out of $8,500. This one costs between $6,995 and $8,390. 3. Harley Davidson XL Sportster 883 Custom - Of all the bikes that are in the 883 Sportster category this is the most expensive. They can cost as little as $7,795 but as much as $9,555. 4. Harley Davidson XL Sportster 883R - Not as expensive as the previously mentioned version of the 883 Sportster you can still expect to pay between $7,795 and $9,050 for this particular model.
But along with producing, various different models of the 883 over the years Harley Davidson have made minor changes to their bikes in order to improve the ride. Such improvements that they have made to the bike in order to improve the bikes ride quality have included such items as an enlarged rear axle which has increased the bikes stability. They have also renewed the frame with the engine being mounted on rubber, which decreases the amount of vibration that it produces.
Along with the changes previously mentioned there are other changes which have been made to this particular custom motorcycle. Gone is the chain drive to be replaced with a belt drive on all models and it also comes with a helical cut transmission unit. This results in reduction in the amount of gear whine that all Harley Davidson motorcycles use to make. Then in 2007 they changed their bikes engines from being carburetted to them being fuel injected.
If you really want to own a Harley Davidson without actually breaking the bank in order to do so then you may want to consider these models over many of the others that this motorcycle company has to offer. These models still have the same ride quality and provide you with the same amount of prestige as all other Harley Davidson motorcycles offer.
So if you want to feel the wind rushing past your face just like Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda did in Easy Rider. Then why not seriously consider looking at purchasing a Harley 883 as your next motorcycle purchase.
How You Should Research a Good Car loan
Whether you have poor credit or a first time buyer, car loan lenders can find you financing. As a matter of fact you can apply for a used auto loan from banks, credit unions as well as online financing companies. And a car loan can help you rebuild your credit history, enabling you to qualify for lower rates on all your loans within two years. However, improvements in your credit history or employment situation may also allow you to benefit from a refinanced car loan. But poor credit doesn’t have to stop you from getting a car loan. A car loan is a type of credit offered by a bank or other financial lender for the specific purpose of buying a vehicle. Today’s credit union pairs its long history of car financing with technological and bargaining tools that help consumers every step of the way.
Refinance car loan is nothing but shifting from the high rate of interest to low rate of interest. But there are some common factors which affect the interest rate being offered to either to the person with strong or weak financial status. It is quite obvious when you go to lender to avail the loan he will try, that you procure finance with high rate of interest which in turn increases their profit which might be not profitable for you. So, it becomes necessary to negotiate for rate of used car loan. If we define the term refinance in lay man terms, refinancing is nothing but a loan taken on low rate of interest to pay off the previous high interest rate loan or it can be also defined as the replacing or extending the existing tenure of loan with a new tenure of loan.
Now to find the amount of the auto loan you need you just subtract the amount you expect you can take for your old vehicle, if you want to sell it. If you sign up for this type of loan, you are legally committed to paying for the full principal balance of the loan as well as the total amount of all interest that would accrue over the life of the loan. Of course, the amount that you will be eligible to borrow for your car will depend upon your income and employment status amongst other things. The borrower gets the title deed after the repayment of the total loan amount has been made. The car itself acts as a security for the loan amount and lets the lender to offer low interest rates.
Secured car loan is based on the collateral security and any of the valuable assets such as the equity of home, property or the car has to be supplied. But still all those limited income earners can also afford a car by availing secured car loan. The amount which can be borrowed in secured car loan is in regard to the equity in the collateral placed. Traditional car loan refinancing can be obtained by requesting a new secured loan in order to repay the existing one. If you want to buy a car through the secured way, you will have pledge a security against the lending amount. Usually, in case of the secured option, presence of the security covers the risk of lending amount; hence, lenders offer this loan at a better interest rate.
There is mainly one condition why one would be willing to refinance a car loan: If one wants to steer clear of repossession and can’t afford the loan’s monthly payments. Thus, leasing offers lower monthly payments. If the first signer fails to meet the monthly payments or any other duty associated with the loan contract, the cosigner will have to take the first signer’s place and satisfy the loan terms. With the loan period extended over a long duration, you can repay it in small monthly installments. To use it, you have to fill in a few fields like the loan amount, interest rate and payback time, and then the calculator tells you what your monthly payments will be. The lender will also want to know more about how much your monthly income is.
Filling out an online car loan application can save you a lot of time if you are prepared before you sit down. It is likely the application will also have questions about past and present employment history, length of employment, current position, and rate of pay. If you’ve lived at your current address for less than two years, the application may ask for previous addresses. A car loan application, being both a financial and legal document, is going to ask for some information that you should have handy, not to mention a couple of things that might be asked of you while filling the form out. That is probably the reason many of us would be willing to take fill out a car loan application form before we get a car.
While online dealership financing is sort of was convenient, many buyers became victims of dealership scams. For starters, the auto buying process becomes much quicker, and you avoid dealership scams. Instead of offering fair rates, some dealership charge excessive fees to innocent buyers. On the other hand, if you have never bought a new or used vehicle, you may fall victim to dealership scams as well. Walking into a dealership blindly is a bad move, but buying from an online dealership will also get you better rates. Unsuspecting buyers immediately accept the dealership’s offer without shopping around. Before browsing the numerous selections of vehicles at a new car dealership, it helps to have private financing in place. Upon choosing a car, they allow the dealership to review their credit and offer a financing package.
If your current car loan is too onerous, it may be due to a high interest rate or a short repayment program which implies higher loan installments. However, as you may later realize, paying the repayment installments can strain your budget. But what you do is log on to websites of numerous lenders, sort out the lenders according to interest rates and repayment terms, if the repayment duration is not so desirable. Cheap car loan not only can be availed at low rates of interest but also provide you longer repayment period along with smaller installments. This paves the way for lower interest rate, bigger loan amount and longer repayment period.
Simple Tips To Save Gas
Gas prices are getting close to an all time high. Here are a few tips to save gas you can start using right now to off set this.
Could you imaging decreasing your gas costs by 20%? Well, if you take an active role in managing you fuel consumption, this is possible.
Or, the other way to look at it, would be that you can increase your gas mileage by 20%. Sounds far fetched? Not really. It is more possible than ever these days.
Today, you can begin by just slowing down. When you drive the speed limit, you are already saving gas. Plus, you really do not get anywhere that much faster, and it is safer. So, I guess there could be 3 reasons for this one.
Before you get in your car today, go tighten the gas cap. A loose gas cap allows too much oxygen in the system, which will leave some extra gas behind after the combustion takes place to run the engine. This is wasted gas.
Third, put some air in your tires. Your car or truck tires are designed to operate at an optimal air pressure. You can find this air pressure rating on the side of the tire. At least once a month, you should check the air pressure in the tires, and ensure it is filled up to the designed air pressure. This saves wear on the tires, and also keeps the car going straight. Which means, the car does not need to work as hard to keep it straight, which means less gas.
Let’s get rid of the myth right now that somehow super unleaded gas is better for your car than regular unleaded. It is not. It does not increase gas mileage in any way, so why buy it? Car owners are scared into thinking they need the best gas to keep their car running, but that is so far from the truth. Just stick with regular unleaded and you will save 5-6% on gas right now.
There are so many tips to save gas out there, and these are only a few of them. With the economics and the market prices of gas currently, I would suggest we all do our part and put in place as many tips to save gas as we can.
How do I compare contract hire and leasing offers?
Contract hire and personal contract hire rates do vary considerably from one company to the next. One reason is because different companies take a different view on residual values (the value of the vehicle at the end of the term) and also as is the case with many products and services you are not always comparing like with like.
The Internet can be a good place to find competitive offers, which is where most contract hire brokers advertise. One of the difficulties of looking for the lowest possible rate, each time you buy a vehicle, is that on each occasion you will probably have to deal with a different broker, because different contract hire brokers will have special deals at different times. This stops you getting to know the broker and getting to know and trust a good broker is vital, because contract hire broking is an unregulated industry.
Searching the Internet to find a rock bottom price on a car is probably best suited for a company that only has one or two cars, or for an individual using personal contract hire. For companies that acquire a number of vehicles a year, a more practical option would be to find a contract hire broker that is reliable and competitive across the range of manufacturers. Perhaps most importantly one that will not mislead the client on delivery dates as a means winning the business over a broker who is quoting a more accurate delivery date.
In the case of a company that buys more than the odd vehicle it is not terribly practical to be dealing with a different broker each time they acquire a vehicle. A company such as this would probably be better off, developing a long term relationship with an established contract hire broker that would manage the whole fleet and provide all the related services; for example ongoing licence checking of the employees and negotiating manufacturers terms on behalf of the client.
For an individual or company that only acquires a vehicle every two or three years, there is no reason not to go onto the Internet and seek out the cheapest deal available. Putting the key words, contract hire, into Google will bring up somewhere in the order of 4,000,000 entries. Clearly one couldn’t hope to look at more than a fraction of those companies advertising contract hire, most people confine their search to the first page. It can also be worth checking out, contract hire and leasing, car leasing and vehicle leasing.
On the first page you will usually see one or two sites that will advertise vehicles for many different contract hire brokers. Some people don’t like using these sites and want to go into the website of one particular company and see what they are offering; they feel that they are more reliable. If you don’t mind using a site that is advertising different broker offers, then there is no reason why this should not form part of your search. The only thing to bear in mind is that these sites don’t generally police their advertisers; so seeing a vehicle advertised at a particular price doesn’t necessarily mean that it is available at that price.
Amongst those advertising there will be some very reputable companies and some less so. Try to stick to those that have very straightforward proposals, where you can clearly see what they are adverting. For example if the advertisement just says 24 or 36 months and doesn’t state what the payment profile is, for example 3 x23 or 3×35 (3 months payments in advance followed by 23 payments, or 3 payments in advance followed by 35 monthly payments) then generally it is going to be something different so you will not be comparing like with like.
It is not unusual to find that a company is asking for six initial payments, it’s difficult to see why a company would do this other than to make the monthly rental appear lower than their competitors. When comparing with other companies it is important to take into account the three additional payments that you will be making.
If delivery dates quoted are better than those quoted by other companies it is really a matter of speaking to the contract hire broker and trying to gauge if you are talking to a company that is straightforward in its dealings. It can be difficult to know, but if the delivery date is much sooner than others are advertising and they also require a deposit (sometimes refundable when the car is delivered), that could be time to start worrying. There is a lot to be said for the old saying, “if something appears too good to be true, it probably is”.
Pricing is another area some contract hire brokers mislead the public, advertising cars at prices knowing they cannot supply at those prices. The thinking behind this is that they will be contacted by those who are attracted by the deal and they can then tell them that that particular batch of cars have been sold but they have something similar etc. It is planned that contract hire and leasing brokers will become regulated in the future; just as insurance brokers are regulated by the FSA. It is expected that these companies will then have to change their ways, or go out of business.
On occasions, when a client is let down by a contract hire broker it is because the broker themselves have been let down. This can happen when a broker that is too small to secure terms with the finance companies, has to use another company’s terms and offers, so they are only as reliable as the company they are working with.
Perhaps the answer is to find three or four contract hire brokers offering the most attractive monthly rentals and speak to them on the telephone. And attempt to ascertain if they can indeed provide what they are promising. The worst thing that can happen is to order a vehicle and then be told at a later date, that the price or delivery date cannot be met. Sometimes it can be better to pay a little more and deal with a broker that inspires confidence.
Make Biodiesel At Home
Have you heard of the benefits of biodiesel? Well maybe you have but do you know that you can make biodiesel from the comfort of your home? Just imagine making your own fuel for your vehicle. It would mean that you’ll save a lot of money!
Making Biodiesel is not really that difficult of a process, either. It is great to get into making your own biodiesel if you are able to because you will get even more rewards from using biodiesel thorough doing so.
Supplies
So, what do you need to start making your own biodiesel? For starters, let me tell you the ingredient you need. You need ingredients like alcohol, lye and vegetable oil. Next you need supplies to mix the fuel- empty plastic bottles, duct tape, a blender and measuring cups. You have to ensure that the materials used to make biodiesel should never be used in the kitchen for cooking again.
Once you have your supplies, all you need to do now is to get them ready and begin learning how to make biodiesel.
Safe Process
Making biodiesel is actually quite safe. The risk of an explosion is low. However, you need to take precaution as there is also a risk of burning yourself. You have to be attentive as you need to see when the mixture gets hot.
In order to get the end product, biodiesel, you will have to go through a few processes- mixing the ingredients, letting it set, separating the byproduct and biodiesel and then cleaning the biodiesel. The processes will take as little as a few days to weeks to produce but it all depends on how clean the vegetable oil you use is.
Small or Big Scale
Biodiesel can be made on a small or on a large scale. Biodiesel kits come in handy if you need to make smaller scale of biodiesel. For example, if you want to use biodiesel in your lawnmower or your lawn equipment, biodiesel kit is the way to go. It is simple to use and will require a small amount of supplies.
However, if you are looking to use it in your vehicle, you may need a biodiesel processor. This makes the process simple and you can even make a few gallons at a time. You will need a few supplies but it will be worth it as you will not have to spend a lot of time making biodiesel since the processor does most of the work for you.
Winning at a Sheriffs Car Auction
If you are trying to find that good bargain deal then you should go attend a sheriffs car auction. These auctions usually provide better deals than most used car lots. The best deal for your car is probably at the auction, why not check it out?
If you are a family man, you probably need to tighten your belt just to get by. You have your house payments and your kids’ college fund to worry about. You have a lot of bills and payments to think about every month. Adding another bill for an overly priced family car won’t help. You need to find a great bargain for your buck.
What you need to do is to know how to get that bargain deal. You need to keep yourself well informed in order to make the best deal. One of the best decisions to your problem would be buying your car at a sheriffs car auction. You get a good deal and you get big savings.
Repo men collect many items monthly. The items are land, houses and cars. These seized items are auctioned off. The sheriffs car auction is the place for the car auctions and hence, the place for great buys. You only need to browse around because you certainly want to have your pick of the lot. Doing your research will mean that you get a better car at a better price.
As these items keep in increasing in number the cost of storing them soon outweighs their value. Storing these items for long periods of time is costly. Another drawback to long storage is deterioration. So it will certainly be better on the government’s part to put the cars up for auction at a sheriffs car auction than let them be slowly destroyed in storage.
The conditions of these cars are good. Some even seem brand-new with no more than a couple of months of use. These pre owned cars range in type because the people who once owned them also have diverse taste.
It is not always possible for everyone to be prompt with payments; some things just come up and you have to miss a payment or two. This is how the seized cars got to the auction. You can then get these cars at the best prices; just follow the guidelines and conditions in your locality.
Read up on the sheriffs car auction here at my page and become a few more step closer to your bargain dream car!
The ups and downs of Mercedes Benz cars
Mercedes Benz is a marque that has throughout the years been associated with luxury and high build quality. When one sees a new Mercedes Benz with it’s beautiful lines driving down the road, its easy to forget that like most manufacturers Mercedes Benz have had their ups and downs, some of them quite recently; Mercedes build quality started to suffer in recent years, it came to the point where contract hire and leasing companies became nervous about recommending them. The model that came in for the most criticism was the M Class.
In a survey carried out by The Consumer Association in 2003, Mercedes was downgraded by two categories, from best to average in reliability. Although to be fair all the German manufacturers came in for criticism, they said, “No major German marques have escaped the steady decline we have noticed in recent years”. Interestingly the manufacturer that received the most complaints from those surveyed was Volkswagen.
The Mercedes M class was placed last out of 142 cars surveyed by the BBC’s Top Gear programme in 2004. These were not good times for Mercedes but to their credit they have since made considerable changes, and gradually the Mercedes marque has once again become associated with dependability
What became known as the world’s first car was patented by Karl Benz in 1886. Benz was based in the town of Mannheim, he called his car the Benz Patent Motorwagen. It had just three wheels similar in width to today’s bycycle wheels. The ride was bumpy and the passengers were as exposed as much to the elements, as if they were riding a bicycle. Driving at night would have been hazardous, as there were no light on the vehicle.
The Daimler Riding Car was invented by Gottleib Daimler and William Maybach, it had an internal combustion engine. In practice the vehicle was a motorcycle, it seems strange that the world’s first motorcylcle should be called a car. The engine had just one upright cylinder and was capable of a maximum of 13 Kilometres per hour. Due to it’s one upright cylinder, it became know as the Grandfather Clock engine. Interestingly Benz and Daimler were working in close proximity to each other, some 100 Kilometres apart but neither was aware of the other, or the work that they were carrying out.
When Daimler and Maybach completed their vehicle that they called the motorised carriage in 1886, they again used the Grandfather Clock engine. They had added 5 Kilometres per hour, the top speed was 18 Kilometres per hour. This vehicle had four wheels, which made it the worlds first four wheel car. The so called Wire Wheel Car that was produced by Daimler and shown at an exhibition in Paris in 1889, caused quite a stir. Seeing this vehicle on show at the exhibition is believed to encouraged the French to start manufacturing their own vehicles.
In 1890’s Karl Benz was building two, three and four seater vehicles but now with four wheels. He had developed the steering system so that the two front wheels could turn on a different radius, making the car much more stable.
The Velocipide was a 2 seater vehicle developed by Benz in 1894, of which he sold 1200. It was fast for its day, at around 20 kph. His motorized bus which followed was beautifully designed but unfortunatey rather impracticle; wheels were still narrow and with roads more suitable for horse drawn carriages,it soon proved impracticle.
In 1896 Daimler produced a belt driven car, this time with two cylinders but still with a top speed of only about 18 miles per hour. Daimler also produced the world’s first truck, which had a flat bed and was rather strange looking; it had various cabinets for storeage, that looked rather like kitchen cabinets. It was very slow at about 11 kilometres per hour but very popular. German breweries bought them for delivering beer and some were sold in England. In the same year Daimler produced a vehicle for carrying heavy loads, up to 500 kgs.They looked rather like a motorized version of the covered wagon from the Wild West.
Benz’s new vehicle in 1899 was called the Dos a Dos, it could achieve speeds of up to 35 KPH, which was fast. It was a 4 seater, two of the passengers would sit facing the rear of the car.
In 1990 Daimler died, leaving control of his company to Wilhem Maybach. Emil Jellinek a highly successful businessman and motor racing driver had been pressing Maybach to produce cars that were more modern and faster. Jellinek asked Maybach to name the cars after his daughter Mercedes and this was the start of the Mercedes car.
A number of more modern and faster car were produced by Daimler, in the early 1900’s. There was the 40 horsepower Mercedes Simplex that suceeded the 35 horsepower model. It was a single seater car with a top speed of 80 Kilometres per hour by now the car had 4 cylinders. One of these models is believed to be the oldest Mercedes still in existence.
Benz launched the double Phaeton in 1905 it was 18 hp, but it was followed by the Double Phaeton two years later that was 75 horsepower. The car which had six cylinders, could achieve speeds of 94 kilometres per hour. Both Benz and Mercedes were starting to have success in motor racing.
As with the British motor manufacturers, during the First World War production was switched to producing military vehicles. At the end of the war the German economy was virtually destroyed; inflation was rising rapidly, there was a shortage of fuel and a luxury tax had been placed on cars, making the cost of a car out of the reach of the average person. Quite a contrast from today, where for around 300 a month on contract hire, one can be driving a new Mercedes Benz.
Benz’s financial position had been seriously weakened; it is believed that Daimler made an approach to Benz, with a proposal of merging but it did not proceed. By 1924 both companies were suffering financially and an agreement was signed and the companies were finally merged in 1926.
After the war Mercedes launched a sports car, it had two seats and a supercharged engine, the top speed was impressive at over 108kph. In 1927 Mercedes Benz then produced a touring car; they called it the Model S, the Model S was even faster at 160 kph. At the time it was hard to imagine that greater speeds could be achieved but one year later the SSK Sports was launched. It seems strange that it was specifically produced for hill climb racing, because one would have thought that that was quite a limited market. It had an extraordinary top speed approaching 200 kph.
The model 550K was launched by Mercedes Benz in 1934. There was a version called The Special Roadster, the maximum speed was 160 kph. It was a spectacular looking vehicle that most people even today would consider to be an elegant and beautiful car. At the time the car cost 28,000 Marks, which was a considerable amount of money.
The 550K was followed by the 540K, a car not dissimilar in design but 10 kph faster. Mercedes were also manufacturing the Mercedes Benz 770, a very large luxury car. The vehicle was a favourite with Germany’s captains of industry, in which they would be chauffeur driven. At the time manufacturers did not seem concerned about the very small numbers that they produced of a particular model, before bringing out the next model, about 420 of the 540K were produced and Mercedes manufactured less than 120 of the 770.
It was claimed that during the Second Word War Mercedes used prisoners of war and forced labour to work in their factories. All German motor manufacturers were required to help in the German war effort, as indeed were the British carmakers. The German motor manufacturing plants were prime targets for the allies, as of course were our car manufacturers for the Germans. Both were producing military vehicles. There was virtually nothing left of Mercedes at the end of the war, their factories and machinery had been destroyed and there were virtually no raw materials, with which to work. In spite of all this Mercedes still managed to start producing cars again in 1948. They launched the 300 saloon in 1951 and sold more than 4500 of this model. The 300S convertible was also launched; things were improving for Mercedes.
The outstanding Gull-Wing two-seater hardtop was launched during the 1950s, so called because when the two doors were open, they opened upwards; it looked like a gull in flight. There had been nothing like it before and the motoring press loved it. It was sold very successfully in America but at around $10,000 it was extremely expensive. However had someone bought one and held onto it, they would have made a lot of money; in 2006 a 1955 model was sold for the equivalent of $716,000 usd in an auction in Australia. In 1957 Mercedes brought out the 300 SL. This time an open sports car, it was extremely fast at nearly 250 kph. This model sold very well in America.
Mercedes were always striving to make their vehicles safer and even in the 1960s they were carrying out comprehensive testing on their cars, measuring how they performed in different conditions. Although it’s hard to believe, in today’s world where almost anything seems technologically possible, that the only method that Mercedes had for collecting their test data was to have another vehicle drive behind the test car, connected by a very long cable.
The first sports car to have a crumple free zone was launched by Mercedes in 1963, the 230 SL. It was slower than some of their earlier sports cars, under 200 kph. The car’s lack of speed, certainly didn’t affect sale, nearly 20,000 were sold. Mercedes then started producing cars with anti-lock brakes in 1978. They were also the first manufacturer to introduce airbags, in 1981. Who knows how many lives have been saved by Mercedes dedicated commitment to road safety over the years.
The 190E came out in 1982 and in 11 years sold an incredible 638,000.Throughout the 80’s and 90’s Mercedes continued to sell large numbers of cars and in 1998 Daimler Benz merged with The Chrysler Corporation, effectively a takeover by Daimler Benz and formed Daimler Chrysler. It was not a success and in 2007 Daimler sold 80.1% of Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management for $7.4 Billion, having initially invested $36 billion in 1998.
Mercedes are now paying a great deal of attention to getting their build quality right and in a relatively short period of time have gone a long way to restoring their reputation and good name. Contract hire companies are once again happy to recommend Mercedes Benz and soon expect them, quite deservedly, to be once again categorised as best for reliability.
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