Daimler Manufacturing Company

[1][2][3][4][5] Some sources state that Daimler visited New York as a member of a male voice choir and by chance met William Steinway.

[2][3][6] Nonetheless, as a result of the meeting the two businessmen founded Daimler Motor Company in Long Island City, New York near Steinway's headquarters in Astoria, opening on September 29, 1888.

Steinway confidently explained in an 1895 interview: "The fuel, petroleum, costs about one cent per hp and hour, making the automobile considerably less expensive than horse power.

[4][8] Following Steinway's early death in 1896, his heirs weren't confident in the viability of the automobile project, and sold all their shares to the General Electric Company in 1898.

The car was based on the European Mercedes 40-45 hp, featuring a top speed of 50 mph (80 km/h), a 4-cylinder engine of 6.8 liters displacement and four-speed transmission.

[1][8] In the same month H. L. Bowden, Boston based owner of a steam yacht, established a speed record of 110 mph (175 km/h) average over a mile with flying start, in a car with a double Mercedes 60 hp engine at Daytona Beach, Florida.

[1][2][3][14][15] Initially planning to rebuild,[16] the company did not reconstruct the factory due to the financial panic of 1907 and the emergence of the American automotive industry.

[23][25][26][27] This wooden-frame building occupied a 100 by 150 foot area of space facing Steinway Street, and stood two stories high, with a brick exterior and basement.