History of the automobile

The early history of the automobile can be divided into a number of eras, based on the prevalent
means of propulsion. Later periods were defined by trends in exterior styling, size, and utility
preferences.
In 1769 the first steam-powered automobile capable of human transportation was built by Nicolas-
Joseph Cugnot.[1]
In 1808, François Isaac de Rivaz designed the first car powered by an internal combustion
engine fueled by hydrogen.
In 1870 Siegfried Marcus built the first gasoline powered combustion engine, which he placed on a
pushcart, building four progressively more sophisticated combustion-engine cars over a 10-to-15-
year span that influenced later cars. Marcus created the two-cycle combustion engine.[citation needed] The
car's second incarnation in 1880 introduced a four-cycle, gasoline-powered engine, an ingenious
carburetor design and magneto ignition. He created an additional two models further refining his
design with steering, a clutch and a brake.
The four-stroke petrol (gasoline) internal combustion engine that still constitutes the most prevalent
form of modern automotive propulsion was patented by Nikolaus Otto. The similar four-stroke diesel
engine was invented by Rudolf Diesel. The hydrogen fuel cell, one of the technologies hailed as a
replacement for gasoline as an energy source for cars, was discovered in principle by Christian
Friedrich Schönbein in 1838. The battery electric car owes its beginnings to Ányos Jedlik, one of the
inventors of the electric motor, and Gaston Planté, who invented the lead–acid battery in 1859.[citation
needed]

In 1885, Karl Benz developed a petrol or gasoline powered automobile.[2] This is also considered to
be the first "production" vehicle as Benz made several other identical copies. The automobile was
powered by a single cylinder four-stroke engine[citation needed].
In 1913, the Ford Model T, created by the Ford Motor Company five years prior, became the first
automobile to be mass-produced on a moving assembly line. By 1927, Ford had produced over
15,000,000 Model T automobiles.

Car
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For other types of motorized vehicles, see Motor vehicle. For the 2006 Pixar film, see Cars (film). For
other uses, see Car (disambiguation) and Automobile (disambiguation).
A car (or automobile) is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transportation. Most definitions of car say
they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four tires, and mainly transport people
rather than goods.[2][3]
Cars came into global use during the 20th century, and developed economies depend on them. The
year 1886 is regarded as the birth year of the modern car when German inventor Karl Benz patented
his Benz Patent-Motorwagen. Cars became widely available in the early 20th century. One of the
first cars accessible to the masses was the 1908 Model T, an American car manufactured by
the Ford Motor Company. Cars were rapidly adopted in the US, where they replaced animal-
drawn carriagesand carts, but took much longer to be accepted in Western Europe and other parts
of the world.
Cars have controls for driving, parking, passenger comfort, and a variety of lights. Over the decades,
additional features and controls have been added to vehicles, making them progressively more
complex. These include rear reversing cameras, air conditioning, navigation systems, and in-car
entertainment. Most cars in use in the 2010s are propelled by an internal combustion engine, fueled
by the combustion of fossil fuels. Electric cars, which were invented early in the history of the car,
began to become commercially available in 2008.
There are costs and benefits to car use. The costs to the individual include acquiring the vehicle,
interest payments (if the car is financed), repairs and maintenance, fuel, depreciation, driving
time, parking fees, taxes, and insurance.[4] The costs to society include maintaining roads, land
use, road congestion, air pollution, public health, health care, and disposing of the vehicle at the end
of its life. Road traffic accidents are the largest cause of injury-related deaths worldwide.[5]
The personal benefits include on-demand transportation, mobility, independence, and
convenience.[6] The societal benefits include economic benefits, such as job and wealth creation from
the automotive industry, transportation provision, societal well-being from leisure and travel
opportunities, and revenue generation from the taxes. People's ability to move flexibly from place to
place has far-reaching implications for the nature of societies.[7] There are around 1 billion cars in use
worldwide. The numbers are increasing rapidly, especially in China, India and other newly
industrialized countries.[8]

History
Main article: History of the automobile

The first working steam-powered vehicle was designed — and quite possibly built — by Ferdinand
Verbiest, a Flemish member of a Jesuit mission in China around 1672. It was a 65-cm-long scale-
model toy for the Chinese Emperor that was unable to carry a driver or a passenger.[6][19][20] It is not
known with certainty if Verbiest's model was successfully built or run.[20]

Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot is widely credited with building the first full-scale, self-propelled mechanical
vehicle or car in about 1769; he created a steam-powered tricycle.[21] He also constructed two steam
tractors for the French Army, one of which is preserved in the French National Conservatory of Arts
and Crafts.[22] His inventions were, however, handicapped by problems with water supply and
maintaining steam pressure.[22] In 1801, Richard Trevithick built and demonstrated his Puffing
Devil road locomotive, believed by many to be the first demonstration of a steam-powered road
vehicle. It was unable to maintain sufficient steam pressure for long periods and was of little practical
use.
The development of external combustion engines is detailed as part of the history of the car but
often treated separately from the development of true cars. A variety of steam-powered road
vehicles were used during the first part of the 19th century, including steam cars, steam
buses, phaetons, and steam rollers. Sentiment against them led to the Locomotive Acts of 1865.
In 1807, Nicéphore Niépce and his brother Claude created what was probably the world's
first internal combustion engine (which they called a Pyréolophore), but they chose to install it in a
boat on the river Saone in France.[23] Coincidentally, in 1807 the Swiss inventor François Isaac de
Rivaz designed his own 'de Rivaz internal combustion engine' and used it to develop the world's first
vehicle to be powered by such an engine. The Niépces' Pyréolophore was fuelled by a mixture
of Lycopodium powder (dried spores of the Lycopodium plant), finely crushed coal dust and resin
that were mixed with oil, whereas de Rivaz used a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen.[23] Neither
design was very successful, as was the case with others, such as Samuel Brown, Samuel Morey,
and Etienne Lenoir with his hippomobile, who each produced vehicles (usually adapted carriages or
carts) powered by internal combustion engines.[1]

Gustave Trouvé's tricycle, the first ever electric automobile to be shown in public

Karl Benz, the inventor of the modern car

In November 1881, French inventor Gustave Trouvé demonstrated the first working (three-wheeled)
car powered by electricity at the International Exposition of Electricity, Paris.[24] Although several
other German engineers (including Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach, and Siegfried Marcus) were
working on the problem at about the same time, Karl Benz generally is acknowledged as the
inventor of the modern car.[1]
The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, first built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept

In 1879, Benz was granted a patent for his first engine, which had been designed in 1878. Many of
his other inventions made the use of the internal combustion engine feasible for powering a vehicle.
His first Motorwagen was built in 1885 in Mannheim, Germany. He was awarded the patent for its
invention as of his application on 29 January 1886 (under the auspices of his major company, Benz
& Cie., which was founded in 1883). Benz began promotion of the vehicle on 3 July 1886, and about
25 Benz vehicles were sold between 1888 and 1893, when his first four-wheeler was introduced
along with a model intended for affordability. They also were powered with four-stroke engines of his
own design. Emile Roger of France, already producing Benz engines under license, now added the
Benz car to his line of products. Because France was more open to the early cars, initially more
were built and sold in France through Roger than Benz sold in Germany. In August 1888 Bertha
Benz, the wife of Karl Benz, undertook the first road trip by car, to prove the road-worthiness of her
husband's invention.

Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver

In 1896, Benz designed and patented the first internal-combustion flat engine, called boxermotor.
During the last years of the nineteenth century, Benz was the largest car company in the world with
572 units produced in 1899 and, because of its size, Benz & Cie., became a joint-stock company.
The first motor car in central Europe and one of the first factory-made cars in the world, was
produced by Czech company Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau (later renamed to Tatra) in 1897,
the Präsident automobil.
Daimler and Maybach founded Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG) in Cannstatt in 1890, and sold
their first car in 1892 under the brand name Daimler. It was a horse-drawn stagecoach built by
another manufacturer, which they retrofitted with an engine of their design. By 1895 about 30
vehicles had been built by Daimler and Maybach, either at the Daimler works or in the Hotel
Hermann, where they set up shop after disputes with their backers. Benz, Maybach and the Daimler
team seem to have been unaware of each other's early work. They never worked together; by the
time of the merger of the two companies, Daimler and Maybach were no longer part of DMG.
Daimler died in 1900 and later that year, Maybach designed an engine named Daimler-
Mercedes that was placed in a specially ordered model built to specifications set by Emil Jellinek.
This was a production of a small number of vehicles for Jellinek to race and market in his country.
Two years later, in 1902, a new model DMG car was produced and the model was named Mercedes
after the Maybach engine, which generated 35 hp. Maybach quit DMG shortly thereafter and opened
a business of his own. Rights to the Daimler brand name were sold to other manufacturers.
Karl Benz proposed co-operation between DMG and Benz & Cie. when economic conditions began
to deteriorate in Germany following the First World War, but the directors of DMG refused to
consider it initially. Negotiations between the two companies resumed several years later when
these conditions worsened and, in 1924 they signed an Agreement of Mutual Interest, valid until the
year 2000. Both enterprises standardized design, production, purchasing, and sales and they
advertised or marketed their car models jointly, although keeping their respective brands. On 28
June 1926, Benz & Cie. and DMG finally merged as the Daimler-Benz company, baptizing all of its
cars Mercedes Benz, as a brand honoring the most important model of the DMG cars, the Maybach
design later referred to as the 1902 Mercedes-35 hp, along with the Benz name. Karl Benz remained
a member of the board of directors of Daimler-Benz until his death in 1929, and at times, his two
sons also participated in the management of the company.

Émile Levassor

Armand Peugeot
In 1890, Émile Levassor and Armand Peugeot of France began producing vehicles with Daimler
engines, and so laid the foundation of the automotive industry in France. In 1891, Auguste
Doriot and his Peugeot colleague Louis Rigoulot completed the longest trip by a gasoline-powered
vehicle when their self-designed and built Daimler powered Peugeot Type 3 completed 2,100 km
(1,300 miles) from Valentigney to Paris and Brest and back again. They were attached to the
first Paris–Brest–Paris bicycle race, but finished 6 days after the winning cyclist, Charles Terront.
The first design for an American car with a gasoline internal combustion engine was made in 1877
by George Selden of Rochester, New York. Selden applied for a patent for a car in 1879, but the
patent application expired because the vehicle was never built. After a delay of sixteen years and a
series of attachments to his application, on 5 November 1895, Selden was granted a United States
patent (U.S. Patent 549,160) for a two-stroke car engine, which hindered, more than encouraged,
development of cars in the United States. His patent was challenged by Henry Ford and others, and
overturned in 1911.
In 1893, the first running, gasoline-powered American car was built and road-tested by the Duryea
brothers of Springfield, Massachusetts. The first public run of the Duryea Motor Wagon took place
on 21 September 1893, on Taylor Street in Metro Center Springfield.[25][26] The Studebaker
Automobile Company, subsidiary of a long-established wagon and coach manufacturer, started to
build cars in 1897[27]:p.66 and commenced sales of electric vehicles in 1902 and gasoline vehicles in
1904.[28]
In Britain, there had been several attempts to build steam cars with varying degrees of success,
with Thomas Rickett even attempting a production run in 1860.[29] Santler from Malvern is recognized
by the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain as having made the first gasoline-powered car in the
country in 1894,[30] followed by Frederick William Lanchester in 1895, but these were both one-
offs.[30] The first production vehicles in Great Britain came from the Daimler Company, a company
founded by Harry J. Lawson in 1896, after purchasing the right to use the name of the engines.
Lawson's company made its first car in 1897, and they bore the name Daimler.[30]
In 1892, German engineer Rudolf Diesel was granted a patent for a "New Rational Combustion
Engine". In 1897, he built the first diesel engine.[1]Steam-, electric-, and gasoline-powered vehicles
competed for decades, with gasoline internal combustion engines achieving dominance in the
1910s. Although various pistonless rotary engine designs have attempted to compete with the
conventional piston and crankshaft design, only Mazda's version of the Wankel engine has had more
than very limited success.
All in all, it is estimated that over 100,000 patents created the modern automobile and motorcycle.[31]

Karl (Carl) Benz.

This question does not have a straightforward answer. The history of the automobile is very
rich and dates back to the 15th century when Leonardo da Vinci was creating designs and
models for transport vehicles.

There are many different types of automobiles - steam, electric, and gasoline - as well as
countless styles. Exactly who invented the automobile is a matter of opinion. If we had to
give credit to one inventor, it would probably be Karl Benz from Germany. Many suggest
that he created the first true automobile in 1885/1886.
Below is a table of some automobile firsts, compiled from information in Leonard Bruno's
book Science and Technology Firsts (Detroit, c1997) and ThoughtCo.’s History of the
Automobile.

A TIMELINE OF CAR HISTORY

1478 – Leonardo da Vinci invents the self-propelled car. This happens many years
before anyone else is even thinking about automobiles. However, the car remains a
sketch on paper and is never actually made. This self-propelled car is not a car like the
ones we see today. It is more similar to a cart and does not have a seat. In 2004, a
replica of da Vinci’s car is finally crafted. It can be seen on display at the Institute and
Museum of the History of Science in Florence, Italy.

1769 – Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot builds the first self-propelled road vehicle in France. This
vehicle is a tractor for the French army. It has three wheels and moves at about 2.5
miles per hour.

1789 – American Oliver Evans receives the first US patent for a steam-powered land
vehicle.

1801 – In Great Britain, inventor Richard Trevithick builds a steam powered road
carriage. It is considered to be the first tramway locomotive. It is designed for use on
road, not railroad.

1807 – An internal combustion engine which uses a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen is
invented by Francois Isaac de Rivaz in Switzerland. He also designs a car for the
engine, the first automobile powered by internal combustion. However, his design turns
out to be very unsuccessful.

1823 – English engineer and inventor Samuel Brown invents an internal combustion
engine. It has separate combustion and working cylinders, and is used to power a
vehicle.

1832 – Robert Anderson invents the first crude electric carriage in Scotland. It is
powered by non-rechargeable primary power cells.
1863 – Belgian engineer Jean-Joseph-Etienne Lenoir invents the “horseless carriage.” It
uses an internal combustion engine and can move at about 3 miles per hour. This is the
first commercially successful internal combustion engine.

1867 – German Nikolaus August Otto improves on the internal combustion engine. His
engine is the first to efficiently burn fuel directly in a piston chamber.

1870 – Julius Hock, of Vienna, builds the first internal combustion engine running on
gasoline.

1877- Otto builds the four-cycle internal combustion engine, which is the prototype for
modern car engines.

August 21, 1879 – American inventor George Baldwin files the first U.S. Patent for an
automobile. This invention is more similar to a wagon with an internal combustion
engine.

1885 – German engine designer Karl Benz builds the first true automobile powered by a
gasoline engine. It has three wheels and looked similar to a carriage.

1886 – In Michigan, Henry Ford builds his first automobile.

1886 – Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach invent the first four-wheeled,
four-stroke engine in Germany. It is known as the “Cannstatt-Daimler.”

1876 – American George Baldwin Selden invents a combined internal combustion

1893 – Brothers Frank and Charles Edgar Duryea invent the first successful gas-
powered car in the United States.

1896 – The Duryea brothers start the first American car manufacturing company in
Springfield, Massachusetts. It is called Motor Wagons.

1900- A steering wheel is designed to replace the steering tiller.

1906 – Alabama sets a state maximum speed limit of 8 miles per hour.

1913 – Ford’s Model T production rockets from 7.5 cars per hour to 146 cars per hour,
thanks to the utilization of the assembly line.

1924 – The car radio is introduced.

1940 – The first four-wheel drive, all-purpose vehicle is designed for the U.S. Military. It
becomes known as the Jeep.
1956 – The Interstate Highway Act creates a network of highways which connects all
parts of the United States.

1962 – Wisconsin becomes the first state to create a seat belt law. It calls for the
seatbelt to be a standard requirement in automobiles.

1974 – Air bags become a new car safety option.

1984 – New York state becomes the first state with a law requiring the use of seatbelts.

1995 – The car Global Positioning System, or GPS, is introduced.

1996 – Due to the rising cost of gasoline and impact of global climate change, zero-
emission electric vehicles come back to auto showrooms. The first electric vehicles had
been designed in the early 1800s.

1997 – The first Toyota Prius is sold in Japan.

Late 2000s – Many vehicle manufacturers begin to abandon once popular gas-guzzling
SUVs for more efficient vehicles due to environmental concerns and the recession.

The automobile has a long and detailed history. Please visit the following links for
further reading.