The horizontally opposed "flat twin" engine was designed and patented by Karl Benz in 1896, who named it the Kontra engine.
Around twenty-five of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen tricycles were constructed in the years 1886 to 1893. Bertha Benz, Karl's wife, financed the venture. Bertha took the tricycle on a road trip from Mannheim to her hometown and back, a distance of 194km, thus becoming the world's first long-distance motorcyclist.
Many years later, Benz merged with Mercedes to become Mercedes-Benz.
Emil Jellineck was a talented and influential man, and distributor for Daimler and Maybach. He named his cars after his daughter, Mercedes, and later took her name, signing documents as Emil Mercedes. His father was a rabbi. Hitler's favorite car was Jewish.
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