November 1935: Start of Mercedes-Benz 130 production in Denmark
All-out praise for high manufacturing quality
130 praised as “epoch-making new design” – but handling the car was not without problems
Stuttgart/Copenhagen, Oct 02, 2005
In November 1935, Daimler-Benz AG began producing Mercedes-Benz passenger cars abroad – at Messrs. Bohnstedt-Petersen in Copenhagen, Denmark. In a former Chrysler factory, production activities started with the assembly of ten units of the 130 (W 23) model, with all parts supplied from Germany. With the decision to assemble passenger cars in Denmark, Daimler-Benz responded to the strongly growing demand in this market.
While only seven Mercedes-Benz passenger cars had been exported to Denmark in 1934, this figure rose to as many as 53 in 1935. In the years before the outbreak of World War II, exports rose continuously – in 1938 a total of 254 Mercedes-Benz cars were sold in Denmark. Sales figures developed in much the same way throughout Scandinavia.
Alongside Mercedes-Benz, other German motor manufacturers also decided in 1935 to have vehicles assembled in Denmark. The reason behind this move was the retirement of American companies from Denmark because local assembly of US brands was no longer profitable due to the country’s strict foreign-exchange regulations for automotive imports from the United States of America. The factories remained in existence and were taken over by European manufacturers for the assembly of their own vehicles.
At the time, Daimler-Benz decided to assemble the Mercedes-Benz 130 in a factory built for the production of Chrysler cars. Newspaper articles about the start of Mercedes-Benz passenger car assembly abroad praised the high standard achieved in manufacture: “The parts and components produced in Germany are assembled in a factory in which it is guaranteed that the vehicles are completed at the same high level of workmanship as the products from the original plant in Untertürkheim.” So much from an article in Berlin’s “Sonntagmorgen” (‘Sunday Morning’) in November 1935.
The decision of Daimler-Benz to have Mercedes-Benz cars assembled in the former Chrysler plant of Bohnstedt-Petersen in Copenhagen had suggested itself. Messrs. Bohnstedt-Petersen AS had been the Danish general distributor for Mercedes-Benz since September 4, 1934 and begun with the import of the Mercedes-Benz models 130 (W 23), 200 (W 21) and 290 (W 18). Company director Christian Bohnstedt-Petersen had initially become the general distributor for Chrysler in April 1930 and built the assembly factory in Copenhagen’s Sundkrogsgade 3 in 1931. A workforce of up to 250 assembled some 30 cars here per day, among them the legendary Chrysler Airflow.
In Germany, only few people criticized the decision to assemble cars abroad and pleaded in favor of the exclusive export of completely built-up automobiles. “Frankfurter Zeitung” of November 5, 1935, for instance, saw the start of Mercedes-Benz passenger car assembly abroad as a chance for the German motor industry to win over new markets: “It remains to be hoped that the German motor industry will be able to conquer a position in the Danish market that is similar to the one previously held by the American motor industry.”
With the 130 built from 1934 until 1936, Daimler-Benz had selected the smallest passenger car from the Mercedes-Benz range for assembly in Denmark. The combination of a compact bodywork and a modern rear-mounted engine layout distinguished the Mercedes-Benz 130 from other models of its generation. Dr. Hans Nibel and Max Wagner had developed a car which was to appeal to a particularly large target group. “This model is a quality car for everyday use by the broadest circles – and a car that provides incomparable handling and ride characteristics thanks to the patented swing axles front and rear, low suspension, the relocation of the engine to the rear, a wide track and a favorable weight distribution.” That’s what a 1934 brochure had to say at the time of the launch of the Mercedes-Benz 130.
The prices of the different versions of the 130 built between 1934 and 1936 cost ranged from 3,200 to 4,400 Reichsmark. In the first two years, the smallest Mercedes-Benz was available as a sedan, convertible sedan, touring car and chassis. The touring car and the chassis without body were discontinued in 1936, however. A total of 4,298 units were built, making the 130 the most successful rear-engined car in the production history of Mercedes-Benz.
The Mercedes-Benz 130 was powered by a four-cylinder inline engine with a displacement of 1.3 liters and an output of 26 hp at 3400/min. The engine was installed behind the rear axle with the transmission mounted in front of it. To accommodate the engine and the three-speed gearbox with an additional overdrive, the central tubular frame of the 130 was forked in the rear. The 4,050 millimeter long, 1,520 millimeter wide and 1,510 millimeter high car weighed in at 980 kilograms (unladen weight) and reached a top sped of 92 km/h.
The modern design concept – adopted at a later stage by cars such as Ferdinand Porsche’s Volkswagen (People’s Car) – was not without problems. In particular, the uneven distribution of the load to the two axles (35 percent on the front, 65 percent on the rear) initially caused the sort of roadholding that made the car something of a handful to drive – which is why the 130 was revised as early as 1935 and given an improved running gear. “Motor” magazine called the new Mercedes-Benz an “epoch-making new design” and “a major step towards what may well become a revolution in the entire passenger car industry.” “Süddeutsche Zeitung” also expressed its appreciation of the handling qualities, moderate fuel consumption and refined equipment of the 130. And the Italian test drivers from “Gazetta dello Sport” praised the developers in Stuttgart: “With this small car, the Mercedes-Benz engineers have solved the problem of the rear-mounted engine – to everyone’s complete satisfaction.”
Ever since the start of the first assembly operation for Mercedes-Benz cars abroad in 1935, numerous assembly and production facilities have been set up for the brand throughout the world. Today, in 2005, Mercedes-Benz automobiles are assembled or produced in Argentina (Buenos Aires), Brazil (Juiz de Fora, Sao Bernardo), India (Pune), Indo-nesia (Jakarta), Spain (Barcelona, Vitoria), South Africa (East London) the USA (Tuscaloosa) and other locations. A new facility will be built in China, and another assembly plant is currently being planned in St. Petersburg (Russia).
I'm going to eat breakfast. And then I'm going to change the world.
Would it be safe to say to call this the VW Ur-Beetle? I mean, it sort of looks like a Proto-Beetle anway.
I wonder how much it influenced the development of the original Beetle and Ferdinand Porsche. I read the press release earlier in the thread, but they didn't explore how much of an influence it had.
1934 would have been right around the time the original VW Beetle was being developed.
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Originally Posted by Duell
