Sunday 29th December 1929

Early German engine designer and industrialist Wilhelm Maybach (83) died. During the 1890s he was hailed in France, then the world centre for car production, as the “King of constructors”. From the late 19th century Wilhelm Maybach, together with Gottlieb Daimler, developed light, high-speed internal combustion engines suitable for land, water, and air use. These were fitted to the world’s first motorcycle, motorboat, and after Daimler’s death, to a new motor car introduced in late 1902, the Mercedes model, built to the specifications of Emil Jellinek.