Jay Leno takes you back in time to drive what many consider to be the first true supercar: the 1913 Mercedes 3795 Double Phaeton Torpedo. With a 580 cubic inch (9.6L!) 4-cylinder engine producing 95 horsepower, this beast could reach 100 mph — in 1913. Restored to period-correct glory by the Nethercutt Collection, this chain-driven monster shows off the cutting-edge luxury and power of pre-WWI engineering. Featuring coachwork by Henri Labourdette, three overhead valves per cylinder, and jaw-dropping design, this is automotive royalty.
Jay Leno Drives the First Supercar: 1913 Mercedes 3795 Double Phaeton Torpedo | Jay Leno’s Garage
Jay Leno got his hands on the fabulous 1913 Mercedes 37/95 Double Phaeton Torpedo. It was called Torpedo for a reason. Automotive royalty from bumper to bumper, the Mercedes with unique coachwork rocks a gargantuan engine and can hit 100 mph, which is mind-blowing for the era it comes from!
The Benz Patent Motorwagen was the world’s first “horseless carriage,” or, simply put, the world’s first car. It was powered by a 1.0-liter engine, which was fed Ligroin fuel and generated only 0.68 horsepower at 400 rpm and 0.59 pound-feet of torque. A single-speed belt-driven transmission pushed it forward by spinning the rear wheels.
Financed by Bertha Benz, the wife of its creator, the project was unveiled to the public on July 3, 1886, in Mannheim, when Karl Benz drove it at a top speed of 10 mph (16 kph). Then, it was his wife the one who took it on a long journey from Mannheim to her parents, who lived in Pforzheim, alongside the couple’s elder sons, Eugen and Richard, who were 15 and 14 at the time.
Fast forward to 1913, and the Mercedes 37/85 Double Phaeton Torpedo was set in motion by a massive Daimler 580-cubic-inch (9.6-liter) four-cylinder engine, which generated 95 horsepower, one of the numbers included in the model’s designation.
Meanwhile, the “37” represents the German tax category in which it was included. All these numbers helped it max out at 100 mph (161 kph). That sort of output and speed were unheard of at the time. It was basically what we call a “supercar” today. Rumors from the era claim that the number of speed tickets grew when this car hit the road.
To get an idea of what the auto industry offered at the time, the Ford Model T rolled down the production line with only 22 horsepower, which was over three times less than that of the Mercedes, and could drive as fast as 46 mph (74 kph).
The 100-horsepower output may not sound like much today, but that was over 100 years ago. It was long before Bugatti and McLaren started building record-breaking models that reached stunning speeds. It was the pre-World War I era, which wasn’t exactly rich in cars. Cadillac, for instance, was still young, having just celebrated its tenth anniversary. Almost as expensive as a “nice house”
It was still an era when cars were reserved for the world of the rich. When new, the 1913 Mercedes was a $8,000 deal. “A nice house was about $12,000,” Jay Leno compares the Mercedes with the real estate of the time.
The tarmac-devourer of the era arrived in Jay Leno’s garage, brought by Cameron Richards, curator and Vice President of the Nethercutt Collection. Delivered to its original owner in Paris, France, in 1913 and restored to period-correct glory by the Nethercutt Collection in the early 2000s, the Mercedes 37/95 Double Phaeton Torpedo is a demonstration of German engineering and high-end luxury of the era.
The automobile simply went off the radar from 1930 to 1884. Mercedes-Benz holds no records of it. Today, it is one of the collection’s gems, boasting a Best in Class in 2001. It has been in the collection since 1994, but it had incorrect fenders, so it got new ones during restoration.
The car sports coachwork built by French designer Henri Labourdette before the coachwork industry melted. It is painted in black with nickel-plated elements, because the chrome was still light years away. The collection curator calls it a piece of jewelry.
Luxury cabin and an engine that starts an earthquake
The huge 580-cubic-inch engine features three overhead valves per cylinder and is switched on with the help of an electric starter. Nowadays, it runs even better than it did back in 1913. The registration number reads “13 Merc,” a nod to the year it saw the light of day.
The logo was just a three-pointed star back then, with no ring around it. The three points of the star represented air, sea, and land, showing that the firm built machines that conquered every space. It wasn’t until 1926 that the star got a ring frame.
The seats on board resemble lounge armchairs more than actual car seats. They are wrapped in button-tufted black leather and look ready to pamper those sitting there. A huge wooden steering wheel controls the steering, but you need to put some effort into it to make it turn and get the car go where you want it to go.
Once the engine fires up, the car shakes as if an earthquake has started, and the vibration reverberates through the garage. It’s not as bad at higher speeds as Jay Leno and Cameron Richards travel with the wind in their hair. The car does have a roof, but it only has a front windshield, while the sides leave them exposed to the open air.
Jay Leno knows his way around the 112-year-old Mercedes. He has a 1914 Mercedes race car in his collection. The 2013 37/95 Double Phaeton Torpedo makes its way through LA traffic, among Fords and Toyotas, and it is a sight to behold. It is not every day motorists lay their eyes on an automobile teleported from another era.
According to Cameron, only about a dozen such examples have survived. He assumes that the car with the Double Phaeton Torpedo coachwork that he brought to Jay Leno’s show is the only one left.
