Protos 1900-1927 - a lot of prestige
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There were around 10,000 car brands and designers - most of them have disappeared. One of these lost brands is the German Protos. Before Protos was taken over in 1906, the brand belonged to Dr. Alfred Sternberg. But the man who gave the brand its reputation was Dr. Ernst Valentin. It was through him that Protos became quality vehicles. After the First World War, however, the prestige soon waned. Protos changed hands again and now belonged to the "Neue Automobil-Gesellschaft".
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Protos may not have been one of the biggest car brands in Germany, but it was one of the most important. Dr. Alfred Sternberg was already producing engines in Berlin when he also created a small car in 1900. In the search for smoother running, he added a compensating cylinder with an idling balance piston to the two opposing cylinders. In 1904, the company switched to conventional four-cylinder engines, which were supplemented by six-cylinder models in the following years. The second place achieved by a four-cylinder Protos 17/35 hp in the 1908 race from New York westwards to Paris helped the company to achieve considerable prestige. In 1909, Protos was taken over by Siemens-Schuckert-Werke, which also produced automobiles from 1906, but concentrated on the Protos brand from 1910 - now under chief designer Dr. Ernst Valentin.
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