"Baron Von Herling['s] . . . huge hundred-horse-power Benz car was blocking the country lane as it waited to carry its owner back to London." - Holmes in PRIO

Two cars are mentioned in the Canon - and both occur in LAST.

The first belonged to Baron Von Herling who had a "huge hundred-horse-power Benz car." This was clearly the Benz 39/100, the only Benz 100 HP produced at or before 1914 time; and it would have been fabricated in 1911, 1912, 1913, or early 1914 (as LAST occurs in 1914). The Benz 39/100 was produced until 1920; and it had 4 cylinders and 120 Liters. It had a maximum speed of 110 kilometers/hour (68 miles/hour); and it weighed 1870 kilos (4123 lbs). It had a 26 gallon gas tank. (And, in case anyone deems the information necessary, the front tires were 920 x 120 and the back tires 935 x 135). It traveled 9.4 miles to the gallon. This, then, was the Baron's "great car." Note: This auto was made before the merger of Benz & Cie (Benz & Co.) with Daimler in 1926 (which named all of its models Mercedes-Benz).

The Benz 39/100

The second car described in LAST was "a little Ford." There were a number of designs of Fords already created by 1914; but the availability of the Model T (and especially the fact that it was in England) points to a Model T. Model T's were produced from 1908 until 1927. Model T's came in various colors (although due the reduction in assembly time, they were only available in black from 1915 to 1925) and types including runabouts, landaulets, town cars, coupes, and touring cars.

1912 Touring Ford Model T

LAST's little Ford held Watson and Holmes. A struggling Von Bork and his valise were put in "the spare seat of the little car." Therefore, it must have been a four-seater and not a coupe.

Holmes had asked Watson to "meet [him] at Harwich with the car" (my emphasis). Watson's wording indicates the car was his. As Fraser Smyth notes in "Holmes, Cars, Martha & the Cat," Holmes did not say "a car" which he would have said if it was rented or "my car" if it had been Holmes' car. Therefore, the car must have belonged to Watson. And, since he must have driven, it is likely he learned to drive when deciding to purchase his first car.

Above is one of several possibilities for Watson's Model T. Although there are many choices (including production years and models), the 1912 Touring model seemed to be small and compact, had a cover (for those rainy London days), was produced close to when LAST occurred, and seemed like a likely choice for the good Doctor (although there are definitely other possible candidates).

Information for this article was taken from French Autoweb Technical Pages, "Spark Plugs, Eh?" by Schulte & Stenitzer (BSJ: Sept, 1997), and "Holmes, Cars, Martha & the Cat" by Fraser Smyth (Sherlock Holmes Journal: Winter, 1992).