The first combustion engine car and the man who made it

The creation of the first practical combustion engine-driven car is attributed to Karl Benz in 1885 with his creation of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen.

This three-wheeled vehicle was patented in January 1885 and is widely regarded as being the first proper combustion engine car put into production.

The Benz Patent-Motorwagen would later be tested and its feasibility proven when Benz’s wife used it for a trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim in August 1888.

At this time, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen became the first commercially available automobile and won a gold medal at the 1889 Paris Exposition.

Developing the Benz Patent-Motorwagen

In 1873, Benz successfully developed a gasoline-powered two-stroke piston engine, and he applied the knowledge gained from this development to create the Benz Patent-Motorwagen.

The Benz Patent-Motorwagen is a motor tricycle with a rear-mounted engine, constructed of steel tubing with wooden panels, and solid rubber tyres of Benz’s own design.

Its first model used the Benz 954 cc single-cylinder four-stroke engine with trembler coil ignition, while later models were upgraded with more powerful engines.

The second model had a 1.1 kW engine, and the model 3 was further upgraded to 1.5 kW, equivalent to roughly two horsepower.

Expansion from demand

The growing demand for internal combustion engines led to Benz expanding his company’s existing factory in Mannheim.

In 1886, Benz added a new building in Waldhofstrasse to the production process and by 1899, the company had grown to 430 employees, from only 50 in 1889.

During the final years of the nineteenth century, Benz’s company was the largest automobile company in the world.

This led to the company, still known as Benz & Cie, becoming a joint-stock company with the arrival of Friedrich von Fischer and Julius Ganß, who joined the Board of Management.

The new directors advised Benz to create a less expensive automobile for mass market production.

This resulted in the company developing and selling the four-wheel, two-seat Victoria automobile with a 3 hp engine.

Benz would continue to develop vehicles over the years until Benz & Cie merged with DMG to form Daimler-Benz, with all subsequent vehicles bearing the Mercedes-Benz name.

He remained a member of the merged companies’ board for the remainder of his life, eventually dying in 1929.

In 1984, Benz was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame for his contributions to the industry.