So far as the story goes, its all in German and I have machine-translated it below.
Seems the Germans and the English were conpeting for the favors of the current Emperor of Ethiopia and it became a contest to see whose car could hold up under the conditions of the Ethiopian roads.
The Nacke was a strong car to begin but they also filled the tires with rubber cement so they wouldn't go flat. Pretty smart if you ask me.
The story as translated:
A pretty adventurous history occurred in 1908 in Abyssinia, modern Ethiopia, where a Nacke auto played a major role. At that time, the African country was ruled by Emperor Menelik II.. The German businessman and Africa travelers Arnold Holtz, he founded the German Abyssinian trading company among others, was already several times in Abyssinia with Emperor Menelik to guest. He promised the Emperor of Abyssinia, he had the confidence to visit him with a German car in his 2600 m high capital. This promise sparked a Holtz at the beginning of 1908. For the daring enterprise, Holtz chose a car from the factory of Emil Nacke! It was a 35 HP1 Nacke double Phaethon2.
The robustness of the transmission and the tires, they were filled with a rubber cement, gave with the decisive factor for this choice. The body made the Berlin company of Neuss. As the automobile as a gift for the emperor was intended, Holtz left adorn the body with the Abyssinian lion. Robust had the car, because on roads was still not to think in Abyssinia. So was also a goal of the expedition to explore the development of the country by automobile. The Nacke car survived all adversities such as desert and river crossings, overcame rock passes and defied with appropriate cooling water consumption of unfamiliar canst. That convinced the Emperor, and he had close to the Nacke car. He scorned the car of the English expedition, which at the same time campaigned to win the favor of the emperor.
