"This ...... This is the car you designed in half a year? ”

Standing in the open space at the entrance of the General Motors plant, John was stunned as he looked at the car in front of him.

Compared with his grandson, who was shocked in his heart, the old Huntelaar was much calmer because he had not seen the first version of the prototype of the car, and he circled around the car sample in front of him, and the expression on his face was obviously very interested.

In front of the two of them, it is an industrial product that subverts people's concepts.

The four wheels of the same size are much thicker than the wheels of the original Benz car, which is also one of the guarantees of the smooth movement of the car. On top of the four wheels is a somewhat strange box, low in the front and high in the back, the front should be a driver's seat, with a seat and a steering wheel, and the empty box at the back should be able to cram in the shape of two or three people.

In appearance, it does bear a bit of a resemblance to the horse-drawn carriages that run on the road today.

"For the time being, there must be a lot to be desired."

Standing beside John, Benz said excitedly: "For example, the transmission sketch you draw, we tried to make it, but it is not ideal for the time being, so we didn't add it, but the pneumatic tires, steering wheel and so on have been put on!" ”

"But ......"

At this point, John finally came to his senses, swallowed a mouthful of spit, and asked with difficulty, "How do you solve the problem of motivation?" I'm afraid this thing weighs hundreds of kilograms, right? ”

John wouldn't be too surprised if he had just designed and built the car according to his own sketches. After all, these are veterans of mechanical design, and the sketches that John gave at the beginning are clear enough, not to mention half a year, even if it is only one month, it is enough for dozens of people to work together.

But the most critical. It's the engine!

The first car in history of Benz was something similar to a tricycle, with three thin wheels plus an engine and a seat, all of which added up to more than 100 kilograms, but although the car in front of him was still humble in John's eyes, its weight had increased by at least three or four times!

It turned out that the weak engine, how could it be moved?

"Mr. Huntelaar. We have designed a new engine. ”

At this moment, Daimler, who was standing on the side, stepped forward and explained with a smile: "Its power has reached eighteen horsepower, which is enough to drive this car, even if it is two more people, there is no problem!" ”

"Eighteen horsepower?!"

When he heard that number, John was really shocked!

The evolution of the engine was a long process, and even at the end of the 19th century it was not much simpler than in the future, so that by the time Benz developed the Victorian two-seater seven or eight years later, the engine was only three horsepower. At the same time, Daimler developed a new 35-horsepower automobile engine. The other shareholders of Mercedes-Benz were directly instructed to abandon Benz, leaving him only as a director for life...... But that was almost ten years later!

Now in 1886, an eighteen-horsepower engine was built?

John felt like his whole body was messy.

If in the field of medicine, there is no pressure on John to make appendectomy appear a year earlier and improve it 20 years earlier, or even to make aspirin 10 years earlier and sulfonamide 50 years earlier. Because these things are all things that he can control. But a car with an eighteen-horsepower engine and all the styling and stuff that came out nearly a decade in advance?

"It's not like what I planned."

Even if you don't consider the engine. The car in front of me already has the prototype of a modern car. Coupled with the transmission that will not take long to continue to be perfected, John instantly feels that he may be a little too big......

According to John's plan, it will take three to five years to design and build a car that can be put into use, and another ten years to perfect the technology and cultivate the market. During this period, John did not mind spending millions of marks to accumulate enough technology and talent reserves for the future. Then, in the 20th century, he invested heavily in the automotive field and began to hire people to design assembly lines. In one fell swoop, GM established itself in Europe and the Americas, and made a lot of money for decades to come......

But the car in front of him surprised John too much.

John also didn't expect that the result of bringing together Bentz, Daimler, and Maybach would advance the process so much. At least in terms of the engine and the styling of the car in front of you, this is already the level of seven or eight years later.

Just when John was babbling in his heart that it was impossible, old Huntelaar had already looked at the car inside and out several times, and finally turned his head and smiled at this time: "Mr. Bentz, this car can be ...... now Well, can you run? ”

"Of course!"

With a frown, Benz nodded proudly.

Under the gaze of old Huntelaar, Benz immediately signaled to Daimler, so the minority shareholder of General Motors jumped into the driver's seat with great interest, while the other minority shareholder Maybach took out a strange-shaped metal rod and shook it vigorously at the front of the car!

"Boom ......"

Ten seconds later, the car was started.

Just as John demonstrated his newly designed bicycle in the garden, Maybach drove his car through thousands of square meters of open space. Looking at the speed, it is not fast, and it is quite bumpy, but intuitively it has exceeded the average speed of the bicycle.

Seeing the qiē in front of him, old Huntelaal was stunned for a moment.

There were no horses to pull and no one to do anything, Mr. Maybach just sat quietly on it, and the car ran without any external force. Under the explanation of Benz next to him, the elder Huntlaar knew that Maybach could turn left and right by twisting the small disc in front of him from time to time, and the two pedal-like things under his feet controlled the car to accelerate or decelerate......

At this moment, old Huntelaar understood the meaning of John's words on the train yesterday!

"How did you do that?"

John, who had already come to his senses, grabbed Daimler and asked in a low voice, "In just half a year, such a car was built...... How the hell do you do that? The span of technological progress is too big, right? Especially this engine, which made up to eighteen horsepower engines at once, is too ...... speed."

Daimler was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "Mr. Huntelaar, what's so strange about this?" You gave us so many patents and design sketches, as well as two hundred thousand marks...... In the past six months, Mr. Benz has been ruthless, and at the peak, he hired 40 people for the development and implementation of the engine, and the investment before and after was as high as 150,000 marks! Comparatively speaking, things like the body, steering wheel, and tires basically don't cost much thought and money......"

"Sizzle......"

After listening to Daimler's words, John suddenly gasped!

He finally understood what was going on.

To put it bluntly, it was his 200,000 marks that caused the trouble!

Originally, John had set a plan for Benz to invest a million marks in five years, so that he could pull up a team so that he could put aside the backward way of going it alone. But what he didn't expect was that Benz would be so radical, investing 150,000 marks in the development of the engine in just half a year. With abundant funds and manpower, coupled with the two engine giants Daimler and Maybach, how can the speed be slow?

The perfect combination of capital and technology has given birth to such a product that transcends the times.

"Huh? That's not right! ”

After John's mind was confused for a moment, he suddenly remembered something, and asked with a glare: "Mr. Daimler, you just said that you invested 150,000 marks in the research of engines in the middle of half a year?" But I only invested 200,000 marks in total! With that many manpower, there are other expenses, which is to say......"

"Uh......"

Daimler's expression immediately became embarrassed.

Looking at the embarrassed appearance of this historical celebrity, John suddenly had a very bad premonition in his heart, and asked with his mouth wide open, "You guys...... You didn't run out of money and asked me to see the car, did you? It took half a year to spend 200,000 marks? “

"This ......"

A flush instantly flew on Daimler's old face, and his mouth opened and closed, but he couldn't say anything.

Although before John's arrival, the three of them believed that with the car in front of them, they had full confidence when facing John, but at this time, Daimler still felt a little ashamed in the face of the boss's doubts. In any case, it was 200,000 marks, equivalent to the income of an ordinary person for a thousand years, and it disappeared in half a year.

"Goo-dong!"

After swallowing a mouthful of spit, John's heart was very helpless.

The large amount of money invested is such a consequence, and when Benz and Daimler studied automobiles in history, they probably did it while tightening their belts, which is why it took so long. But now it is not surprising that half a year spent 200,000 marks, and the technology was suddenly advanced by seven or eight years.

After taking a deep breath, John said in a deep voice, "So that means that the purpose of you letting me see this car is to apply for more funding?" ”

"Yes, sir."

Although it was a little embarrassing, but it was about everyone's career, Daimler could only nod and say: "We hope to be able to advance the next year's 200,000 marks, because this car still has a lot of problems and must be studied...... But rest assured, with another 200,000 marks, we are confident that in a year we will be able to increase the power of the engine to more than 30 hp, and the rest of the parts will be perfected! ”

"Here, this money must be given!"

Before John could seriously consider this request, the old Huntelaar next to him had already shouted loudly: "In order to make this car go on the market as soon as possible, not to mention 200,000 marks, even 400,000 marks will definitely be given to ......" (to be continued......