Start with what the Benz 10/30 PS is: a Torpedo bodied “Tourenwagen” / ”Limousine” (sedan/saloon) / Many customers would have purchased the car in base chassis format and obtained a body separately with 1912-27: 2,610cc Inline four-cylinder sidevalve engine, built from 1912 to 1927, as the assembly line was turning motoring into an industry. What it meant takes a little longer.
The background
The Benz 10/25 PS was a midsize automobile introduced by Benz & Cie in 1912. The same year stated maximum output was increased which meant a name change to Benz 10/30 PS. The model disappeared for three years following the First World War but returned in 1921. A further power increase in 1926 meant another name change, now to Benz 10/35 PS. Following the "fusion" between the Daimler and Benz companies, production of the Benz 10/35 PS ended in 1927.
The engineering
The engine is 1912-27: 2,610cc Inline four-cylinder sidevalve engine. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 3125 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
In the Benz & Cie. line-up the Benz 10/30 PS has a clear place: the factory was Mannheim, Germany. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Fiat Zero, the Fiat 2B, the Hispano-Suiza type 45 "Alphonse XIII". Its Benz & Cie. stablemates include the Benz 10/18 PS and the Benz 10/20 PS.
Owning one today
There is no federal ownership record for the Benz 10/30 PS — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.