History of Automobile

Benz Patent-Motorwagen

Three wheels one cylinder and instead of a steering wheel, a crank handle. The Benz Patent Motorwagen has gone down in our history as the world's first car. Karl Benz set the first vehicle with a combustion engine patented in 1886 and although it was widely seen as the great feat of engineering, it was a financial flop. That was until the inventor's wife Bertha Benz drove it over 100km from Mannheim to Pforzheim proving that however how odd it looked, it could go the distance. It went down in history. It was constantly breaking down. The brake pads had to be replaced and you have to keep stopping to fill it up. Cars might have been invented in Germany but it was actually France that first fell in love with them. Including the ones made in Germany. Women in particular like to motor down the boulevard of Paris. It made a change from horse drawn carriage. It was a way of showing how modern you were because obviously a motor car cost a lot more than a horse drawn carriage.

Karl Benz

Bertha Benz

Here is Top Gear take on searching the first car 

with modern controls and steering.