{"id":493557,"date":"2013-12-18T14:00:27","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T19:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/?p=58206"},"modified":"2025-01-06T00:46:51","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T00:46:51","slug":"100-years-ago-blitzen-benz-at-brooklands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/100-years-ago-blitzen-benz-at-brooklands\/","title":{"rendered":"100 Years Ago &#8211; Blitzen Benz at Brooklands"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='memberful-global-teaser-content'>\n<p>Shortly before Christmas Eve 1913, British racing driver L. G. Hornsted set two new world speed records for the half-mile and the kilometre. Held southwest of London at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey, England, Hornsted was driving a Benz 200 hp, a modified variant of the &#8220;Blitzen Benz&#8221;, or &#8220;Lightning Benz&#8221;, which had already become a legend in its own time. In January 1914, the Briton, born in 1884, added seven more records to his tally of victories.<\/p>\n<p>What a great Christmas present to himself: three days before Christmas Eve 1913, British racing driver Lydston Granville Hornsted, better known by his initials L. G. or his nickname &#8220;Cupid&#8221;, headed onto the track at Brooklands to set new records in his Benz 200 hp. The average speeds achieved by Hornsted were 113.8 km\/h over the half-mile (804,67 metres) and 118.8 km\/h for the kilometre, both from a standing start.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n        .memberful-global-teaser-content p:last-child{\n            -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent);\n            mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent);\n        }\n    <\/style>\n<div class='memberful-global-marketing-content'>\n<div class=\"a07online-global-marketing-content-wrapper\">\n<h2 class=\"a07online-global-marketing-title\">No Subscription? You&#8217;re missing out<\/h2>\n<p class=\"a07online-global-marketing-content\">Any Text Here<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"a07online-global-marketing-prompt\" href=\"https:\/\/supercars.memberful.com\/checkout?plan=86696\">Get Started<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"a07online-global-marketing-signin\">\n<h4 class=\"a07online-global-marketing-signin\">Already a Member? <a href=\"https:\/\/supercars.memberful.com\/account\">Sign in to your account here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shortly before Christmas Eve 1913, British racing driver L. G. Hornsted set two new world speed records for the half-mile and the kilometre. Held southwest of London at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey, England, Hornsted was driving a Benz 200 hp, a modified variant of the &#8220;Blitzen Benz&#8221;, or &#8220;Lightning Benz&#8221;, which had already become a legend in its own time. In January 1914, the Briton, born in 1884, added seven more records to his tally of victories. What a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":763058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1580,263,3766,11272,73,255,18207],"tags":[603,1581,429,11351,17140,75,18116,22928,22929,17143],"class_list":["post-493557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-benz","category-car-culture","category-history","category-members-only","category-mercedes-benz","category-news","category-special-feature","tag-anniversary","tag-benz","tag-news","tag-motorsport-history","tag-members-only","tag-mercedes-benz","tag-mercedes-benz-history","tag-mercedes-benz-race-cars-featured","tag-race-cars-featured","tag-special-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>100 Years Ago - Blitzen Benz Speed Records at Brooklands<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In 1913, British racing driver L. G. Hornsted set two new world speed records in the famed 200 hp Benz better known as the Blitzen Benz.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/100-years-ago-blitzen-benz-at-brooklands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"100 Years Ago - Blitzen Benz Speed Records at Brooklands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 1913, British racing driver L. G. 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