The Benz 'Velo' (originally called Velociped) was a 1.5 HP four-stroke rear engined car with a single horizontal cylinder and an upright flywheel. The bore and stroke were 110 x 110 mm, giving a total displacement of 1045 cc (63.8 cu in). Maximum power occurred at 450 rpm. It had a 18 litre fuel tank under the driver's seat and a 3-speed automatic transmission.
Karl Benz sold 1200 of these cars between 1894 and 1902 for 2000 gold marks each. That was expensive in those days. It became the world's first car from large-scale production and at the same time the first small car. The car's top speed was 20 km/h. It was fitted with a wooden frame with iron reinforcements. It had compact dimensions and was 2.25 meters long. The first version of 1894 only weighed 280 kilograms. The wheelbase was 1,340 millimeters long; the track width was 1,000 millimeters at the front and 1,040 millimeters at the rear.There were numerous variations to the basic design. Some had solid spokes as shown in the model, while most of them came out with wire-spoke wheels with solid rubber tyres. The front wheels were 550 millimeters in diameter, and the back wheels were 850 millimeters in diameter. The step between the mudguards was more common on the Velo's successor, the 'Comfortable', but I did see some examples of this step on the Velo and so I included it on my model. I had to work from photos because there were no reliable blueprints available.