The first car to reach 100 km/h was driven by Belgian Camille Jenatzy who set the record in 1899. Just ten years after that, a former Grand Prix race car from Benz, later called the Blitzen-Benz, managed to reach 200 km/h. The first car to reach 200 km/h was developed by Hans Nibelung who fitted the Benz with a 21,504 cc engine that had a power output of 200 hp (147 kW) at 1 600 rpm. The transmission was taken care of by a 4-speed gearbox which was sending the power to the rear axle via a chain. The engine of the Blitzen-Benz featured a Bosch dual ignition and valves that were ten centimeters in diameter.
The Blitzen-Benz hit 202.7 km/h on 8 November 1909 while being driven by French Victor Hemery, and in April 1911 Bob Burman hit with the same car 228.1 km/h in Daytona (Florida).
