Protos Type E1 (18/42 PS) History
Catalog record
This is a brief catalog introduction with limited source documentation. A licensed, identity-checked lead photograph has not yet been added for this page. Detailed year, configuration and ownership coverage must be identified separately; this page is not a complete vehicle catalog.
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Model history available. Detailed year guides are not published for this model.
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Introduced for 1906 as a development of the 17/35 PS, the Type E1 shared the same 4,560 cc four-cylinder block but was tuned to 44 hp, raising top speed to around 90 km/h. It was rated in the German horsepower taxation system as 18/42 PS.
The model remained in production through the 1908 Siemens-Schuckertwerke takeover and the subsequent move of the factory to Nonnendamm in Spandau — emerging as 'Protos Automobilwerk Nonnendamm GmbH' — without significant interruption. Under Siemens ownership the cars gained electric lighting and self-starting as standard from 1913.
Kaiser Wilhelm II — who reportedly kept several Protos automobiles — and Prince Heinrich of Prussia were among the Type E1's most prominent patrons, lending the marque a prestige that outlasted the model itself. Production ended with the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.
Generations
Early production · Pre-Siemens era
Built under Sternberg & Heymann ownership in Schöneberg; distinguished by the Kompensmotor's exceptional smoothness.
Siemens era · Nonnendamm production
Produced at the new Siemens-owned Nonnendamm plant in Spandau; gained electric lighting and starting from 1913.
1913 Photo: “Protos (1913)” by August Scherl (24 July 1849 – 18 April 1921) / Wikimedia Commons — Public domain. Cropped to 16:9.
Body styles
- Open tourer
- Limousine
- Landaulet
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