Pre-WWI Mercer Raceabout Could Hit 100 mph

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Written by Shane McGlaun | August 18, 2015

100mph is a fast clip, that is plenty of speed to get you carted off to jail in some areas. It’s higher than the speed of some of the fastest highways in the US. People would think you are crazy if you pass them at 100mph on the highway. Think about how it must have been to reach 100 mph in a car in 1913.

Cars were still in their infancy, and 100 mph top speed made the Mercer Raceabout the Bugatti Veyron of its day. The car uses a 4.8-liter 4-cylinder engine and has only rear brakes. No front brakes makes stopping from 100 mph likely as slow a process as getting there in the car.

If you ever wondered what a sports car over 100 years old sounds like, fire up the video to see Jay Leno walk us through the Mercer, and then flog it around the streets about the 10:30 mark. I love the round tiny windshield, and the ridiculous racket it makes going down the road.

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