Daimler Motor Lastwagen

The Daimler Motor-Lastwagen of 1896 is described as the world's first truck. Gottlieb Daimler designed it and Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft built it, with Wilhelm Maybach working alongside him on its development. The first prototype had a 1.06 litre two-cylinder four-stroke engine behind the rear axle, rated at 4 hp (2.9 kW) with hot-tube ignition, driving the rear wheels through a four-speed belt drive. It had turntable steering, a hand-operated block brake acting on the iron rear tyres and a foot-operated shoe brake on the countershaft. The truck was 4.5 m long and 1.5 m wide, with a stated payload of 1,500 kg, a top speed of 12 km/h and a price of 5,200 marks. On 1 October 1896 the first truck was sold to the British Motor Syndicate in London, with a larger 1.53 litre, 6 hp engine under the driver's seat. That year the company also launched a range of trucks in four power levels, with payloads from 1.2 to 5 tons.