The Mercedes-Benz 130H was a low-production automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 built in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in the 1930s.

Conceived by Hans Nibel, chief engineer of Mercedes Benz, the 130H was inspired by Edmund Rumpler

Edmund Rumpler

Edmund Rumpler was an Austrian automobile and aircraft designer.Born in Vienna, then Austro-Hungarian Empire , he worked mainly in Germany.Lyons 1988, p.73 An automotive engineer by training, he collaborated with Hans Ledwinka on the first Nesseldorf , the Präsident, in 1897.By age 30, in 1902, he...

's Tropfen-Auto. It followed on the Rumpler

Rumpler

The Rumpler Tropfenwagen was a car developed by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler.Rumpler, born in Vienna, was a designer of aircraft when on the 1921's Berlin car show he introduced the Tropfenwagen. It was to be the first streamlined car . The Rumpler had a Cw-value of only 0.28...

-chassis Tropfenwagen racers, which ran between 1923 and 1926.

Created in 1931 by Nibel, it had the 1.3 liter sidevalve four-cylinder engine mounted at the back, hence the "H", from German heck (rear), With the fan between the rear coil springs, it drove a transmission

Transmission (mechanics)

A machine consists of a power source and a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Merriam-Webster defines transmission as: an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears and the propeller shaft by which the power is transmitted from an engine to a...

 with three forward speeds, plus a semi-automatic overdrive which did not require the use of a clutch. (A similar idea was adopted by Cord

Cord Automobile

Cord was the brand name of a United States automobile, manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company from 1929 through 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937....

 for the abortive 810 in 1935.) The backbone chassis

Chassis

A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...

 owed something to Hans Ledwinka

Hans Ledwinka

Hans Ledwinka was an Austrian automobile designer.- Youth :Ledwinka was born was born in Klosterneuburg , near Vienna, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire....

, and suspension

Suspension (vehicle)

Suspension is the term given to the system of springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels. Suspension systems serve a dual purpose — contributing to the car's roadholding/handling and braking for good active safety and driving pleasure, and keeping vehicle occupants...

 was independent at all four corners. Daimler-Benz put the 130H in production in 1934. Due to its suspension, handling proved poor, although perfectly adequate on German roads at the time, while its ride quality was superior to anything in Germany.

Nibel followed the 130H with a more powerful 150H

Mercedes-Benz 150H

The Mercedes-Benz 150H was a prototype sports racing automobile built in Germany in the 1930s.Conceived by Hans Nibel, chief engineer of Mercedes-Benz, the 150H was inspired by Edmund Rumpler's Tropfen-Auto...

, with chassis designed by Daimler's Max Wagner.