1908 Benz 105 HP Rennwagen Two Seater

The early history of this Prince Heinrich Benz (either a 100 PS or a 105 HP) is not clear and it is not certain who drove it in the first Prinz Heinrich Tour in 1908. It was built to compete in the touring car race devised by Prince Heinrich of Prussia - a long-distance (2,200 km) race for four-seater touring cars. With its 105 horsepower engine and torpedo-shaped body, the Prinz Heinrich could reach a top speed of 135 km/h. Only about ten of these goliaths were built, and just four exist today.

Having survived the Prussian event in 1908, 1909 and 1910, this Prinz Heinrich was shipped to Benz of New York to be prepared for the Vanderbilt Cup race of 1910. Modifications included the replacement of the four-seat touring body with the two-bucket seat configuration that it wears today. Following the race, the car was modified yet again for the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911.

This Benz Rennwagen, sometimes called the 'Prince Heinrich,' is one of three cars Benz brought to America for the acclaimed 1910 Vanderbilt Cup held on Long Island. The drivers were David Bruce-Brown, Franz Heim and Eddie Hearn. The following year, the car was driven in the 1911 Indianapolis 500, possibly by William 'Billy' Knipper, starting 40th and finishing 18th. It was later owned by Barney Oldfield and then Lindley Bothwell, who used the car extensively on dirt tracks in the 1950s and 1960s. Bothwell donated the car to the Indianapolis Speedway Museum in 1965. They restored it in the 1990s to its current form which replicated its appearance in the 1911 Indy 500 Race. The current owners acquired the car in 2011.