Benz Patents Automobile: The Age of Speed Begins
Karl Benz filed his patent for a 'vehicle powered by a gas engine' on January 29, 1886, receiving German patent number 37435 for a three-wheeled motorcar with a single-cylinder 954cc engine producing roughly two-thirds of a horsepower. The Motorwagen could reach speeds of about ten miles per hour. His wife Bertha was arguably the car's most important champion: in August 1888, she secretly drove it 66 miles from Mannheim to Pforzheim with their two sons, the first long-distance automobile journey in history. She had to refuel at a pharmacy using cleaning solvent. The trip proved the invention was practical for intercity travel. Benz struggled commercially for years; most people viewed the automobile as a dangerous toy for the wealthy. It took Henry Ford's assembly line two decades later to turn Benz's invention from a luxury novelty into mass transportation.
January 29, 1886
140 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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