The first car in the world: who invented it and how it happened

Transport on wheels has accompanied humanity for several centuries, but first car in our usual understanding, appeared less than 150 years ago. Today it is difficult to imagine a world without cars - they determine the rhythm of cities, the economy of countries and even culture. But who is at the origins of this revolutionary invention? Spoiler: the answer is not as clear as it seems.

Many will immediately remember Carl Benz — his name is strongly associated with the birth of the automobile. However, history knows dozens of engineers whose developments preceded or even preceded Benz's 1886 patent. Steam carts, electric cars, motorized bicycles—they all lay claim to the title of “first.” Let's figure out who really deserves the title father of the automobile industry, and why this issue is still controversial among historians.

In this article you will find not only names and dates, but also little-known facts: why the first car drove at walking speed, what its “engine” looked like, and why modern cars bear so little resemblance to their ancestors. And also a table with key inventions that led to the advent of the car, and answers to frequently asked questions about the first cars.

Steam predecessors: cars before gasoline engines

Long before the advent of internal combustion engines, engineers experimented with steam engines. The first self-propelled carts, which can roughly be called cars, appeared back in XVIII century. Their creators rarely thought about practicality - more often they were demonstration models for wealthy patrons or military needs.

One of the most famous prototypes is Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot's steam car (1769). This bulky three-wheeled vehicle weighed almost 5 tons and reached speed 4 km/h. It was intended to transport artillery pieces, but due to the complexity of control and frequent breakdowns, it never entered service. It's interesting that Cunho was the first in history to commit an accident - his locomotive crashed into a stone wall during testing.

B 19th century steam cars became smaller and faster. For example, British Richard Trevithick built in 1801 "Puffing Devil" - a car that could carry 8 passengers at speed 14 km/h. However, steam engines had critical disadvantages:

• 🔥 Explosion hazard due to high steam pressure
• ⏳ Long warm-up (up to an hour to start)
• 💧 Huge water consumption and fuel (wood/coal)
• 🚫 Road bans - in Great Britain, until 1896, steam engines could only travel at walking speed (6 km/h) and with a man in front waving a red flag!

Despite the limitations, steam cars dominated until the end of the 19th century. In the USA, for example, in 1900 40% of all cars were steam 38% - electric, and only 22% - gasoline. But the future lay with a different type of engine...

Electric cars of the 19th century: why they were inferior to gasoline ones

Few people know, but electric cars appeared before gasoline ones! The first working prototypes were created in 1830–1840s. For example, a Scot Robert Anderson invented the electric carriage in 1832–1839, and the Dutchman Sybrand Stratingh in 1835 he built a small electric car that could travel several kilometers.

The real boom in electric cars came in 1890–1910. They were quieter, cleaner and easier to operate than gasoline or steam engines. For example, Baker electric car (1899) accelerated to 24 km/h and could pass 80 km on one charge - not bad for that time! A Stanley Steamer (steam) was inferior in reliability.

So why haven't electric cars won? The reasons lie in technological limitations:

• 🔋 Lead acid batteries weighed hundreds of kilograms and were discharged in a few hours
• ⚡ Lack of charging infrastructure — the car could only be recharged at home or at special stations (there were very few of them)
• 💰 High price — electric cars cost 2–3 times more than gasoline ones
• 🛣️ Bad roads — without suspension, driving over bumps quickly damaged the batteries

But the main blow to electric cars was the invention starter for gasoline engines (1912). Before this, gasoline cars were started manually—the process was dangerous and labor-intensive. And back in the 1920s, cheap oil and conveyor production appeared (thanks to Henry Ford), which made gasoline cars accessible to the middle class.

What would have happened if electric cars had taken over in the 1900s?

Today, cities would be quieter and cleaner, but the top speed of cars would barely exceed 50 km/h due to battery limitations. Gas stations would not exist - instead there would be “charging stations” with huge generators. But autopilot could appear earlier: electric cars are easier to automate.

Karl Benz and his Motorivagen: the official first car

If we talk about the first production car with a gasoline engine, then the palm belongs to Karl Benz. His Benz Patent-Motorwagen (1886) received patent DRP No. 37435 from the German Imperial Patent Office. This three-wheeled vehicle with a single-cylinder engine produces 0.75 hp considered the official "zero kilometer" of automotive history.

Specifications Motorwagen amazes with its modesty:

• 🔧 Engine: 954 cm³, 1 cylinder, 400 rpm
• ⛽ Fuel: naphtha (petroleum distillation product similar to kerosene)
• 🚗 Maximum speed: 16 km/h (according to other sources - up to 20 km/h)
• 🔄 Gearbox: absent (drive directly to the rear wheel)
• 🛑 Brakes: only to the rear wheel, controlled by lever

Interestingly, Karl Benz's wife, Bertha Benz, played a key role in popularizing the invention. In 1888 she without my husband's knowledge made the first long-distance car trip in history - drove 106 km from Mannheim to Pforzheim with his sons. Along the way, Bertha solved technical problems (for example, clearing a clogged gas line with a hatpin) and proved the practicality of the machine. This route is now being reproduced as a tourist route. Bertha Benz Memorial Route.

However, Benz had competitors. Also in 1886 Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach created their own version of a gasoline engine and installed it on a four-wheeled carriage. Their model was more powerful (up to 1.5 hp) and faster. But Benz's patent was registered earlier, so he is officially considered a pioneer.

Daimler, Maybach and the first "real" car

If Benz created a three-wheeled "motorized bicycle", then Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach went further - they developed lightweight high speed engine, which could be installed on any carriage. Their brainchild - Daimler Reitwagen (1885) - often called the first in the world motorcycle, but in reality it was a test bench for the engine.

And already in 1889, Daimler introduced the first four wheeler with a gasoline engine - Daimler Stahlradwagen. Unlike Motorwagen, this car had:

• 🔄 4-speed gearbox (albeit a belt one, not a gear one)
• 🔥 2 hp engine (twice as much as Benz)
• 🚗 Maximum speed 18 km/h
• 🛠️ More reliable design (eg water cooling)

Daimler and Maybach not only improved the engines, but also licensed them to other manufacturers. For example, French Emile Levassor bought an engine from them and created it in 1891 Panhard et Levassor - a car with a front engine and rear wheel drive. This scheme (FR-layout) became standard for cars on the following 100 years!

Daimler founded the company in 1890 Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG), which later merged with the Benz company to form the concern Daimler-Benz - future Mercedes-Benz. It was Maybach who developed the first car under the brand Mercedes (1901), which became a symbol of luxury and speed.

Disputes between historians: who was first?

The question is who invented the first car, still causes debate. It all depends on what is considered a car:

1. Self-propelled cart - then the championship belongs to the steam engines of Cugno or Trevithick (1769–1801).
2. Electric car - then priority goes to Anderson or Stratingh (1830s).
3. Petrol car with internal combustion engine — Karl Benz is in the lead here (1886).
4. Production car - Benz again, but with a caveat: his Motorwagen was sold in small quantities, and Henry Ford established a real assembly line only in 1913.

The answers vary from country to country. For example:

• 🇩🇪 In Germany, the first car is officially recognized Benz Patent-Motorwagen.
• 🇫🇷 Celebrated in France Emile Levassor for creating the first "modern" car layout.
• 🇺🇸 In the USA they often mention Charles and Frank Duryea, who built a gasoline car in 1893 (although they were 7 years late).

Another contender is an Austrian inventor Siegfried Marcus, who in 1875 created a car with a gasoline engine. However, his invention was not patented, and Marcus himself remained in the shadows for a long time.

To understand the chronology, take a look at the table of key milestones:

Year	Inventor	Model/Invention	Features
1769	Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot	Steam tractor	The first self-propelled vehicle, speed 4 km/h, weight 5 tons
1832–1839	Robert Anderson	Electric carriage	The first electric car, the batteries were not recharged
1885	Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach	Daimler Reitwagen	The first motorcycle with a gasoline engine (0.5 hp)
1886	Karl Benz	Benz Patent-Motorwagen	The first patented car with an internal combustion engine, 0.75 hp.
1889	Gottlieb Daimler	Daimler Stahlradwagen	The first four-wheeled gasoline car

How the first car changed the world: the consequences of the invention

The advent of the automobile became one of the key events of the industrial revolution. Here are a few ways it transformed society:

🌆 Cities and infrastructure:

• 🏗️ The first ones appeared paved roads (before this, most roads were dirt or cobblestone).
• ⛽Arose gas stations — the first of them sold gasoline in pharmacy bottles!
• 🚦 Invented traffic lights (the first electric one appeared in 1914 in the USA).

💼 Economics:

• 🏭 The automobile industry has become one of the largest industries, creating millions of jobs.
• 💰 New business models have emerged: car dealerships, car rentals, taxis (the first taxi with a gasoline engine started working in 1896 in Germany).
• 📦 Logistics has developed - trucks have speeded up the delivery of goods.

🚗 Culture and lifestyle:

• 🎬 Cars have become a symbol of freedom and status (remember movies about racing or road adventures).
• 🏡 Appeared suburbs — people were able to live outside the city and travel to work by car.
• 🎵 Music, literature and cinema are filled with automotive themes (for example, the song "Route 66" or movie "Bullitt" with a legendary chase).

⚠️ Negative consequences:

⚠️ Attention: Along with cars came new problems. Already in 1896, the first fatal accident was recorded in London (the victim was a pedestrian). And by the 1920s, cities began to choke on smog - exhaust gases became one of the main environmental threats. Today transport gives about 20% of all CO₂ emissions in the world.

Interestingly, the first cars were perceived as rich man's toy. For example, in 1900 the United States had only about 8,000 cars, and after 20 years - already 10 million! Mass production (thanks to Henry Ford and his Model T) made cars accessible to the middle class.

Myths and little-known facts about the first cars

There are many myths surrounding the history of the car. Let's look at the most popular:

🔹 Myth 1: "Henry Ford invented the automobile"

❌ Reality: Ford wasn't an inventor - he was a revolutionist production. His conveyor belt (1913) allowed him to reduce the price Model T with $850 up to $260 and release 1 million cars per year. But the first car appeared on 30 years earlier.

🔹 Myth 2: “The first cars ran on gasoline like today”

❌ Reality: The fuel for early cars was more like kerosene or naphtha. Gasoline was considered a by-product of oil refining and was cheap. It was not until the 1920s that the transition to high-octane gasoline began.

🔹 Myth 3: "Cars immediately became popular"

❌ Reality: Cars were often banned in the 1890s. For example, in Great Britain until 1896 there was a law "Red Flag Act", obliging the driver to drive at walking speed and wave a red flag. And in the USA farmers sometimes covered the roads with nails, to ruin the tires of the "devil's carts".

🔹 Myth 4: “The first cars were reliable”

❌ Reality: Breakdowns were the norm. For example, Benz Patent-Motorwagen required repairs after every trip. The drivers carried with them a set of tools, spare parts and even blacksmith hammers! And when it rains, cars often refused to start due to damp spark plugs.

🔹 Myth 5: “Women had nothing to do with the auto industry”

❌ Reality: Bertha Benz not only glorified her husband’s invention, but also invented the first brake linings (made of leather) when I noticed that the wooden blocks were wearing out quickly. And the American Alice Ramsay in 1909, she became the first woman to cross the United States by car in 59 days.

Why were the first cars three-wheeled?

The three-wheel design was easier to drive (no need for a differential) and cheaper to manufacture. Additionally, many inventors looked to bicycles, which at the time often had three wheels for stability.

⚠️ Attention:

⚠️ If you see the replica Benz Patent-Motorwagen or Daimler Stahlradwagen at the exhibition, do not be surprised by their miniature size. The first cars were designed for 1–2 people and weighed only 200–300 kg (for comparison: a modern small hatchback weighs about 1 ton). It was uncomfortable to sit in them - passengers literally climbed on top, like into a carriage.

FAQ: answers to frequently asked questions about your first car

🔧 Why did Benz's first car have three wheels and not four?

The three-wheeled design was easier to manufacture and cheaper. Benz used bicycle technology (for example, chain drive on the rear wheel), and a two-wheel rear axle would require a differential - a complex and expensive mechanism for the time. In addition, three wheels provided sufficient stability at low speeds.

⛽ What fuel did the first cars use?

Benz and Daimler gasoline engines ran on naphtha - a light fraction of oil similar to kerosene. Gasoline in the modern sense appeared later, when engineers realized that it evaporates better and provides more power. Electric cars used lead-acid batteries, and steam engines used wood or coal.

🚦 What was the maximum speed of the first car?

Benz Patent-Motorwagen accelerated to 16 km/h (according to some sources - up to 20 km/h on the descent). For comparison: the average speed of a horse-drawn carriage was 8–12 km/h. However, already in 1894, at the Paris-Rouen races, a car De Dion-Bouton developed 22 km/h, which was considered a record figure.

💰 How much did Benz's first car cost?

In 1886 Motorwagen cost about 600 gold marks (approximately $150 at the exchange rate of that time). For comparison: the average salary of a worker in Germany was 500 marks per year. That is, the car cost an annual income! Series production began in 1888, and by 1893 Benz had sold approximately 69 copies.

🔄 Why did electric cars lose to gasoline ones at the beginning of the 20th century?

Main reasons: low power reserve (up to 80 km on one charge) long charge (up to 10 hours), high price batteries and lack of infrastructure. After the invention of the starter (1912), gasoline cars became more reliable, and the development of oil production made gasoline cheaper. However, electric cars remained popular in cities until the 1920s - they were used as taxis due to their quiet operation.