In Paris, in 1905 or 1906, Alberto Santos Dumont invites friends to watch a Mercedes car race.

• Handwritten letter from Alberto Santos Dumont to an unknown recipient.
• One sheet, two pages.
• 12.5 cm x 17 cm.
• In French.
• Paris, a Wednesday (mercredi, in French), no information about the date.
• Good condition of conservation.
• Unique piece.

Paris, Monday

Dear friend,

Come to my house
tomorrow at 9 ¾
Lemgruber will be
there and we from there
we will see the
120 mercedes e
then maybe, we will
take a walk

see you tomorrow

Santos Dumont

At first, this letter was quite enigmatic to me. Who exactly was this Lemgruber? And this Mercedes 12o or 120? In these cases, and since it is part of the pleasure of working with autograph documents, I decided to contact Mercedes in Germany, who kindly replied (translated):

Mr. Meyer,

Thank you for your question.

According to our archives, there was no official connection between Alberto Santos Dumont and Mercedes-Benz.

He is probably referring to the 120-HP Mercedes races of 1905/06.

There is no other explanation we can think of and, being an inventor, these powerful cars may have been of interest to Santos Dumont.

Yours sincerely

Christian Biederstaedt

Mercedes-Benz Classic

Archives and collections

It is worth remembering that motor racing was still developing at this time. It is estimated that there were less than 5,000 cars in Paris. This new form of motorized transport and its advances were of great interest to aviation pioneers, especially because of their engines. Mercedes 120 races, the most powerful cars of the time, attracted huge crowds in France, as they were the first races for competition cars, the precursors of today's Formula 1 World Championship.

I then deduced that this letter could be dated 1905 or 1906, at the height of Santos Dumont's life, when he made - or was about to make - his historic flights on October 23 and November 12, 1906. He had an intense social life and lived with other pioneers and friends who were passionate about mechanics, both French and foreign. Among them were the recipient of the letter and Antônio de Avelar Lemgruber (1877-1920), grandson of the Viscount of Ubá, mentioned by Santos Dumont, another fan of automobile racing.

An anecdotal detail, Santos Dumont's precision: come to my house tomorrow at 9 ¾. The paper used for the letterhead is also unique. I have never seen another letter from Santos Dumont using the same one. Last but not least, the large and beautiful signature, which also caught my attention.

Finally, we have here a very important letter for its date, where we can clearly feel the inventor's enthusiasm for what he is experiencing, about to change History and honor Brazil.