Mercedes Simplex Model 40/50 Tourer

The Museum’s 1904/05 Mercedes Simplex, Chassis #2626, is accompanied by a small collection of facsimile factory records, providing some insight as to how the vehicle arrived in the United States. According to the handwritten ledger, Chassis #2626 was originally slated for delivery to C.L. Charley, a French importer who ran the “Mercedes Palace” at 70 Avenue des Champs-Élysées. As with Jellinek and Henri Rothschild, Charley was a pseudonym, this time for Karl Lehmann, a cycle racer of the time. Lehmann had seen one of the first Mercedes cars in production and promptly visited Jellinek to negotiate the sole Mercedes dealership in France. In the ledger, Charley’s entry has been crossed out and in its place appears Allen, Halle & Co, New York. The car itself bears a pair of brass information plates, one announcing the licensure from C.L. Charley and the other proclaiming that it was “Imported and sold by Smith & Mabley, Inc. Licensed under the Selden Patent.” The leap from C.L. Charley to Smith & Mabley is bridged in a November 24, 1904 article in Motor Age magazine, which states that “Smith & Mabley have become the distributing agents of the Mercedes for Allen, Halle & Co., representatives of C.L. Charley of Paris.” While the article goes on to state that Charley “Recognizes only Allen, Halle & Co. as his sole American representatives … he does not dispute their right to sell to Smith & Mabley or others.”

Chassis #2626 features a Rear-Entrance Tonneau body, which is removable to permit changing body styles with the seasons. Following 1904, models in this line ceased using the Simplex name, opting instead for horsepower designations as with the 28/32 and 40/45.