🚗 The Benz Patent-Motorwagen
Design: A tricycle structure (3 wheels) for easier steering, avoiding the instability of 4-wheel designs at the time.
Steering: A simple tiller (lever), not a round steering wheel.
Engine: 954cc single-cylinder 4-stroke engine, producing 0.75 hp.
Speed: Max speed of 16 km/h (10 mph) at 400 rpm.
Transmission: Single-speed forward gear (No reverse).
Fuel: "Ligroin," a cleaning solvent purchased at pharmacies.
Fuel Efficiency: Approx. 10 km/L with a 4.5L tank.
Price: 600 Gold Marks.
Manufacturer: Benz & Cie. (Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik).
On this day, January 29, 1886, Karl Benz submitted a patent application for his "gas-engine-powered vehicle."
This document, Patent No. 37435, is historically recognized as the "birth certificate of the automobile" and is currently listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.
However, the first real driver of this invention was not Karl, but his wife, Bertha Benz. Without telling her husband, she packed their two sons into the Motorwagen and set off on a 106 km long-distance journey to visit her parents.
Along the way, she stopped at a local pharmacy to refill the fuel (Ligroin). That pharmacy in Wiesloch, Germany, is still in business today, proudly displaying a sign that reads: "The World's First Gas Station."
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