Benz Patent Motor Car

Although several pioneers had already attempted to build an automobile, this three wheeler designed by Karl Benz is the first patented car.

It is not a horseless carriage, because the vehicle was intended as an automobile right from the start. Nor is it an experimental vehicle; the car is simply for sale. The single cylinder combustion engine is started by giving the large flywheel at the back a strong pull. With a Benz Patent Motor Car type 3, a further development of this car, the first longer car journey in the world was made, namely by Karl Benzs wife, Bertha. In 1888 she sets off together with her two sons from her hometown of Mannheim on a trip of almost 200 kilometers there and back to Pforzheim to visit relatives. Incidentally, she did not ask her husband for permission to do this, which was very unusual at the time. This is also where the legendary story comes from that Mrs Benz ran out of fuel during the long journey and bought a cleaning fluid at a chemists, which allowed her to continue driving. From a technical point of view she was very inventive anyway; she also repaired the ignition with a garter and cleared a clogged fuel line with a hat pin.