Lightning Benz

This is a photo that originally appeared in a spring 1910 edition of Literary Digest. One thing that is significant about it is it is an image of the "Blitzen" Benz during a time when it was re-named the "Lightning Benz." This is the car Barney Oldfield used to set the world land speed record in 1910 at Daytona Beach. One year later Bob Burman broke Oldfield's record again at Daytona. Oldfield and Burman both set the American speedway record for one mile at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway using this car as a follow-up to their respective Daytona records. Burman drove the car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the day before the running of the first Indianapolis 500. For more information read the article that was originally associated with this image.