Few inventions have had as enduring
an influence on the world's development as the invention of the automobile.
The pioneers of automobile manufacture
towards the end of the 19th century were Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900) and Carl
Benz (1844-1929).
On January 29, 1886, Benz applied for a patent
for his “vehicle powered by a gas engine.” The patent – number 37435 – may be
regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile. In July 1886 the
newspapers reported on the first public outing of the three-wheeled Benz Patent
Motor Car, model no. 1.
The "Velocipede" originated in 1886 can be regarded as the world's first automobile, despite being limited to three wheels (*).
The "Velocipede" originated in 1886 can be regarded as the world's first automobile, despite being limited to three wheels (*).
In the same year, just 100 kilometers
away Daimler presented his motor carriage, considered the world's first
four-wheeled automobile. Essentially, this automobile is a light coach which a
modified and more powerful version of Daimler’s engine.
However, several years lay between
the invention of the automobile and its economic exploitation.
The Benz Velo from 1894 was the
world's first series-produced automobile.
(*) In fact Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot (1725-1804), French Army Captain,
built, at the time of Louis XIV, the
first working self-propelled mechanical vehicle, indeed the world's first
automobile: Cugnot’s “fardier à vapeur”.
RFS
