Benz Motorwagen Replica completes Historic Journey

Chennai, 16.10.2015: The Historic 500 km non-stop journey by Replica of the World oldest Benz car was completed successfully. The replica of the 1886 Benz Motorwagen made by Gedee Car Museum started its extraordinary drive on 14th Oct, Wednesday evening from Coimbatore. An experienced panel of 6 drivers was involved to make sure the journey was completed safely and within time to reach Chennai.

Mr. Har Sahay Meena, IAS, Commissioner of Tourism & MD, TTDC, Chennai and Mr. Achim Fabig, The Consul General, Federal Republic of Germany, Chennai welcomed the Vintage Car here in Chennai. The car was put to display to the public at Hotel Taj Connemara.

Mr. G.D. Gopal, Managing Trustee, Gedee Car Museum said, “UMS Technologies, which is a part of the GD group undoubtedly has one of the best technical strengths in this part of the world. It was my dream and vision to make a replica of this Benz Wagen. When an opportunity was there to procure a vehicle, our team immediately started working on reverse engineering.”

He further added, “Our students of Gedee Technical Training Institute were asked to make the drawings of the 430 parts and to make prototypes of the same, which was done in a very perfect manner. The manufacturing team had a big challenge because they had to work with the technology which was prevalent in late 1886. Many items had to be manufactured in the old way but this was a great achievement of the team in seven months and our first vehicle was ready.

“The person, who currently manufactures the Benz Wagen, was invited to India to have a look at the vehicle made by GD. When asked to scrutinize the replica, he was completely awestruck because of its better look than the original one. This shows the level of quality that GD had achieved.”

“We were so confident of the quality and decided to do this heritage motor drive from Comibatore to Chennai; a distance of 550 km. We are very glad to inform you that the vehicle has performed extremely well in this long drive. Considering even that newer cars fail sometimes on such long drives, this is a remarkable achievement for a vehicle whose design is more than a century old. I am happy that today, one such replica has finished a journey that to my knowledge nobody has undertaken in the world.”

Talking about the event, Mr. C.S. Ananth, Vintage Car Restorer said, “Karl Benz was indeed a visionary to have invented the first automobile. He changed the transportation from animal driven to motor driven. His wife bertha benz drove the vehicle for a distance of 194 km, to prove its reliability and also demonstrated that it can be easily handled by a lady. During the Historic drive in 1888, people were amazed seeing the contraption being driven by a lady and this resulted in large enquiries for the vehicle and the rest is history.”

Mr. Har Sahay Meena, IAS said, “We all have dreams but to make them happen, sheer effort and planning is required. This sort of a heritage drive, that too with a vintage vehicle, needs lot of confidence and preparation. Hearty congratulations to the team of GEDEE Museum and Mr. Gopal making this event successful.”

Mr. Achim Fabig, Consul General of Germany, Chennai said, “Happy to be a part of this historical event. I am not sure whether Karl Benz would have imagined such a marvelous reception in future for his first-patent motor vehicle. He has made Germany proud, and Benz was truly farsighted to create an automated transport vehicle, which has made our lives much easier and comfortable. Wish GEDEE Museum to do more heritage drives of this sort in future as well. ”

For more information, please contact: Mr. Ramaraj, AGM Operations, UMS Technologies Ltd., 95855 19625, ramaraj@umstech.in / Mr. Satyan Bhatt, MD, Prism PR, 98400 85411, satyanbhatt@prism-india.com