1903 Mercedes 60 HP Roi Des Belges

This Mercedes-Simplex 60 HP is equipped with a 9,236cc F-head inline four-cylinder engine with a single Zenith carburetor and produces 60 horsepower at 1,100 RPM. It has a four-speed manual transaxle with dual-chain drive and two-wheel mechanical drum brakes with a transmission brake.

The first owner of this 60 HP was British publishing magnate Alfred C.W. Harmsworth, and he was among the first to place an order. His Sixty was among the Mercedes that debuted at the annual Nice Speed Week on the French Riviera. Prepared in garages behind Villa Mercedes, Emil Jellinek's private home in Nice, Harmsworth's Sixty was raced by an individual named Braun on the Promenade des Anglais, setting a record in the mile-long speed trial.

After the speed trial, the Sixty was immediately sent to Cannstatt, where E. Campbell Muir, a friend of Harmsworth's, collected the Mercedes and drove it home to England. Mr. Harmsworth and Mr. Higginbotham's Sixties were the first two examples to arrive in the U.K.

The Sixty was sent by Mr. Harmsworth to Ireland in June 1903 as a reserve entry for the Mercedes team's use in the Gordon Bennett Cup. Ultimately, the car was not needed. Instead, Mr. Harmsworth entered his Mercedes in the Ballybannon Hillclimb at Castlewellan, where it was entrusted to E. Campbell Muir. With a recorded time of 32.4 seconds, Harmsworth's Sixty won the Henry Edmonds Hill-Climbing Trophy.

After establishing its competition credentials, this Sixty was fitted with elaborate 'Roi des Belges' coachwork by Parisian atelier J. Rothschild et Fils. Its registration number 'A 740' is among the earliest issued by the London City Council, which began supplying registrations in 1903 with 'A 1.'

Mr. Harmsworth regularly used his Mercedes throughout the U.K. and the continent. Upon his passing in August 1922, the Mercedes was willed to his 12-year-old son, Alfred John Francis Alexander Harmsworth. In 1954, towed to Beaulieu, where it was cosmetically restored and put on display in the new motor museum established by Lord Montagu. In 1956, the Mercedes was paired with Alfred Harmsworth's chauffeur George Pine on the London-to-Brighton Veteran Car Run. In later years, Lord Montagu and John Harmsworth entered the Sixty in multiple editions of the Brighton run. In 1958, the Mercedes was shipped to Belgium to take part in the veteran car parade at Expo 58, the Brussels World's Fair.

In the 1960s, the Sixty was prepared for long-term static storage and kept as a fixture at the Beaulieu Motor Museum for over six decades.

In modern times, only five 60 HP Mercedes have survived, including this car and Emil Jellinek's own Touring Limousine, now owned by the factory and displayed at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. This particular example - the car owned by Mr. Harmsworth - has been passed down through three generations of the Harmsworth family. It is the sole example of the model that remains in single family ownership and the lone surviving 60 HP Mercedes that claims a documented, in-period competition history. It retains its original chassis, engine, nad Rothschild 'Roi des Belges' coachwork.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2024