The Daimler Manufacturing Company (DMFG), was a boutique American

automaker The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, repairing, and modification of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries ...

company from 1898 to 1907. From 1888 to 1898, the company was known as the Daimler Motor Company (DMC), formed under a partnership between

Gottlieb Daimler Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist. He was a pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile development. He invented the high-speed liquid petroleum-fue ...

Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (abbreviated as DMG, also known as Daimler Motors Corporation) was a German engineering company and later automobile manufacturer, in operation from 1890 until 1926. Founded by Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900) and Wil ...

(DMG; predecessor to

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

) and

William Steinway William Steinway, also known as Wilhelm Steinway (born Wilhelm Steinweg; March 5, 1835 – November 30, 1896), son of Steinway & Sons founder Henry E. Steinway, was a businessman and civic leader who was influential in the development of Astoria, ...

of piano manufacturer

Steinway & Sons Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in New York City by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth le ...

. Headquartered in

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

near Steinway's Astoria headquarters, the company sold Daimler motors for yachts and launches, and goods vehicles including buses and trucks. It built and sold a single automobile model, the original American Mercedes.

History

In 1885,

and business partner

Wilhelm Maybach Wilhelm Maybach (; 9 February 1846 – 29 December 1929) was an early German engine designer and industrialist. During the 1890s he was hailed in France, then the world centre for car production, as the "King of Designers". From the late 19th ce ...

developed one of the first gasoline-powered engines, known as "the grandfather clock engine". At some point in 1888, Daimler met piano maker

, son of

founder Henry E. Steinway and a former associate of Maybach. Some sources state that Daimler visited New York as a member of a male voice choir and by chance met

. Most others state that Steinway met Daimler on a visit to Germany. Nonetheless, as a result of the meeting the two businessmen founded ''Daimler Motor Company'' in

, New York near Steinway's headquarters in Astoria, opening on September 29, 1888.Lord Montagu and David Burgess-Wise ''Daimler Century'' ; Stephens 1995 The company was officially incorporated on January 26, 1889. The company initially sold imported

Cannstatt Bad Cannstatt (), also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer Stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart' ...

engines built in Germany. In 1891, DMC contracted ''National Machine Company'' of

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, to build engines to Daimler specifications. ''USA-Daimler'' started making their own automobile and stationary engines in 1895 followed a decade later under new ownership by perhaps one complete automobile. Steinway confidently explained in an 1895 interview: ''"The fuel, petroleum, costs about one cent per hp and hour, making the automobile considerably less expensive than horse power. We already had a horseless vehicle here in 1893 but it was too lightly built for the rough cobblestone streets we have in this country”''.

Change of ownership

Following Steinway's early death in 1896, his heirs weren't confident in the viability of the automobile project, and sold all their shares to the ''

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an e ...

'' in 1898. On August 2, 1898, the company was reorganized as ''Daimler Manufacturing Company'' (DMFG), with

(DMG) the primary owner. The new company produced light trucks and buses under Daimler and Panhard et Levassor (another Daimler-contracted company) specifications. It also imported vehicles built in Europe by Daimler, Mercedes, and Panhard. In 1904, the company discontinued its boat building operations in order to focus on automobiles. That year DMFG constructed its first car, called the "American Mercedes". The car was based on the European ''Mercedes 40-45 hp'', featuring a top speed of 50 mph (80 km/h), a 4-cylinder engine of 6.8 liters displacement and four-speed transmission. On January 17, 1905, the locally constructed car was shown at the

New York International Auto Show The New York International Auto Show is an annual auto show that is held in Manhattan, New York City in late March or early April. It is held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. It usually opens on or just before Easter weekend and closes ...

. In the same month H. L. Bowden, Boston based owner of a steam yacht, established a speed record of 110 mph (175 km/h) average over a mile with flying start, in a car with a double ''Mercedes 60 hp'' engine at

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach is a coastal resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropo ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

.Steinway & Sons – Owners' Magazine, 2009, p. 95. The brand stood out in the automobile market with ''Mercedes'' advertising stating: ''"If you want the best, of course you want a foreign car... Mercedes is the car for speed, power and noiseless running. It is the acme of reliability.”'' The first DMFG unit was sold in 1906, painted red.

Decline

On February 14, 1907, the DMFG factory was destroyed in a fire. The fire destroyed eight completed ''Mercedes'', plus 40 others under construction, as well as drawings and machinery. One of these vehicles belonged to

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...

co-founder

William Rockefeller William Avery Rockefeller Jr. (May 31, 1841 – June 24, 1922) was an American businessman and financier. Rockefeller was a co-founder of Standard Oil along with his elder brother John Davison Rockefeller. He was also a part owner of Anaconda Co ...

. The fire also destroyed several nearby residences, rendering 100 local residents homeless. The rapid spread of the fire was attributed to the wooden construction of the Daimler facilities and much of the Steinway/Astoria neighborhood. Initially planning to rebuild, the company did not reconstruct the factory due to the financial

panic of 1907 The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange suddenly fell almost ...

and the emergence of the American automotive industry. The company folded in 1913.

Factory

The company was located at 939 to 967 Steinway Avenue, on the south side of 20th Avenue between

Steinway Street Steinway Street is a major street in the borough (New York City), borough of Queens in New York City, New York (state), New York, in the United States. Steinway Street is a 2.4 mile two-way street that runs north-south between Berrian Boulevar ...

(then-Steinway Avenue) to the east and 38th Street (Kouwenhoven Street) to the west in

Steinway Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in New York City by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth le ...

section of

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to four other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Queens, Long Island C ...

. The factory was located across from the trolley depot of the Steinway Street Line trolley line operated by the Steinway Railway. It was just south of Steinway & Sons' main piano factory and the

Steinway Mansion The Steinway Mansion (also known as the Benjamin Pike Jr. House) is a historic Italianate architecture, Italianate and Renaissance Revival architecture, Renaissance Revival villa located at 1833 41st Street in the Astoria, Queens, Astoria neigh ...

, both located at the north end of Astoria along

Bowery Bay Bowery Bay is a bay off the East River in New York City. It is located near the Ditmars Steinway area in the neighborhood of Astoria in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered on the west by the Bowery Bay Water Pollution Control ...

. The site consisted of several one-to-three buildings, all constructed of wood. The original building on the site measured 25 by 100 feet. A larger factory was constructed in 1895 when the company began building its own motors, and was expanded in 1899 to facilitate the construction of carriage and automobile bodies. This wooden-frame building occupied a 100 by 150 foot area of space facing Steinway Street, and stood two stories high, with a brick exterior and basement. Buildings on the west end of the block facing 38th Street were used for the storage of completed or partially completed vehicles. A second facility, the "Daimler Motor Company Boat Houses", was located at the north end of 36th Street (then-Blackwell Street) along the Bowery Bay coast.

References

{{reflist

External links

Steinway History Timeline

"The American Mercedes" Brochure, 1906

Drawings of the Daimler Motor Company factory and boat houses
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 1896 Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Queens, New York Steinway & Sons Motor vehicle manufacturers based in New York (state) Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York City