Benz Patent-Motorwagen

The Benz Patent-Motorwagen ("patent motorcar"),

built in 1885 by the German engineer Karl Benz, is Benz Patent-Motorwagen
widely regarded as the first practical modern
automobile[1][a] and was the first car put into
production.[8] It was patented in January 1886 and
unveiled in public later that year. The original cost of
the vehicle was 600 imperial German marks,[9]
approximately 150 US dollars (equivalent to $5,100 in
2023).

Two years after Karl Benz drove the car in public in

July 1886,[10] Karl's wife Bertha demonstrated its
feasibility in a trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim in
August 1888. Around the same time, the Patent- Benz Patent-Motorwagen Nr. 1
Motorwagen became the first commercially available Overview
automobile in history.[11] Émile Roger, who made Manufacturer Rheinische Gasmotorenfabrik
Benz engines under license in France, was one of the Benz & Cie.
first persons to buy Benz' car; from 1888, Roger was (known today as Mercedes-
also the salesperson of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen in Benz)
France, selling one to Émile Levassor in 1888.[12][13] Production 1886–1893
The Patent-Motorwagen was shown at an exhibition in
Body and chassis
Munich in 1888, winning a gold medal, and at the
1889 Paris Exposition.[13] Layout Rear Engine, RWD
Powertrain
Due to the creation of the Patent-Motorwagen, Karl
Engine 1.0 L (954 cc) single cylinder
Benz has been hailed as the father and inventor of the
engine (Ligroin fuel)
automobile.[1][14][15]
Power output 2⁄3 brake horsepower (0.68 PS;
0.50 kW) @ 400 rpm
4
⁄5 newton-metre (0.59 lb⋅ft)
Development, specifications and
Transmission Single-Speed Belt Drive
Karl Benz's first drive Dimensions

After developing a successful gasoline-powered two- Wheelbase 57.1 inches (1,450 mm)
stroke piston engine in 1873, Benz focused on Length 106.3 inches (2,700 mm)
developing a motorized vehicle while maintaining a Width 55.1 inches (1,400 mm)
career as a designer and manufacturer of stationary
Height 57.1 inches (1,450 mm)
engines and their associated parts.
Curb weight 600 pounds (270 kg)
The Benz Patent-Motorwagen was a motor tricycle Chronology
with a rear-mounted engine. The vehicle contained
Successor Benz Velo
many new inventions. It was constructed of steel
tubing with woodwork panels. The steel-spoked
wheels and solid rubber tires were Benz's own design. Steering
was by way of a toothed rack that pivoted the unsprung front
wheel. Fully elliptic springs were used at the back along with a
beam axle and chain drive on both sides. A simple belt system
served as a single-speed transmission, varying torque between an
open disc and drive disc.

The first Motorwagen used the Benz 954 cc (58.2 cu in) single-
cylinder four-stroke engine with trembler coil ignition.[16] This Benz Patent-Motorwagen Nr. 1 used
in Karl Benz's first trip on 3 July
new engine produced 500 watts (2⁄3 hp) at 250 rpm in the Patent-
1886
Motorwagen, although later tests by the University of Mannheim
showed it to be capable of 670 W (0.9 hp) at 400 rpm. It was an
extremely light engine for the time, weighing about 100 kg
(220 lb). Although its open crankcase and drip oiling system
would be alien to a modern mechanic, its use of a pushrod-
operated poppet valve for exhaust would be quite familiar. A large
horizontal flywheel stabilized the single-cylinder engine's power
output. An evaporative carburettor was controlled by a sleeve
valve to regulate power and engine speed. The first model of the
Motorwagen had not been built with a carburettor, rather a basin The Benz Patent-Motorwagen Nr. 3
of fuel soaked fibers that supplied fuel to the cylinder by of 1888, used by Bertha Benz for
evaporation. the first long-distance journey by
automobile (106 km (66 mi) long)
The vehicle was awarded the German patent number 37435, for
which Karl Benz applied on 29 January 1886. Following official
procedures, the date of the application became the patent date for the invention once the patent was
granted, which occurred in November of that year. Benz unveiled his invention to the public on 3 July
1886, on the Ringstrasse in Mannheim. For the first time Karl Benz publicly drove the car on July 3,
1886, in Mannheim at a top speed of 16 km/h (10 mph).[10]

Benz later made more models of the Motorwagen: model number 2 had 1.1 kW (1.5 hp) engine, and
model number 3 had 1.5 kW (2 hp) engine, allowing the vehicle to reach a maximum speed of
approximately 16 km/h (10 mph). The chassis was improved in 1887 with the introduction of wooden-
spoke wheels, a fuel tank, and a manual leather shoe brake on the rear wheels.

About 25 Patent-Motorwagen were built between 1886 and 1894.[17]

Bertha Benz's trip

Bertha Benz, Karl's wife, whose dowry was said to have made a portion of contribution to finance the
development of the Patent-Motorwagen,[18] was aware of the need for publicity. She took the Patent-
Motorwagen No. 3 and drove it on the first long-distance internal combustion automobile road trip to
demonstrate its feasibility. That trip occurred in early August 1888, when she took her sons Eugen and
Richard, fifteen and fourteen years old, respectively, on a ride from Mannheim through Heidelberg, and
Wiesloch, to her maternal hometown of Pforzheim.[19]
In Germany, a parade of antique automobiles celebrates this
historic trip of Bertha Benz every two years. On February 25,
2008, the Bertha Benz Memorial Route,[20] following the route of
Benz's journey, was officially approved as a Tourist or Scenic Official signpost of Bertha Benz
Route by the German authorities as a route of industrial heritage Memorial Route
of mankind. The 194 km (121 mi) of signposted route leads from
Mannheim via Heidelberg to Pforzheim (Black Forest) and back.

See also
History of the automobile
Benz Velo (later 4 wheel model)
List of Mercedes-Benz vehicles (incl. summary of Benz vehicles)
List of motorcycles of the 1890s
List of motorized trikes
Three-wheeler

Notes
a. Before Karl Benz patented his Motorwagen in January 1886, several inventors were working
on automobiles powered by steam engines; in 1769, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built the first
steam-propelled vehicle.[2] During the 1870s, Bollée created several steam vehicles which
could carry passengers for road trips.[3] Steam cars have, however, been characterized by
various authors as "distinctly uncommercial",[1] "unsafe",[4] and "difficult to manage".[5]
According to automotive historian G. N. Georgano, the stationary Otto engine helped make
the invention of the Benz Motorwagen possible, which he labelled as "the first motorcar" due
to its commercial production.[6] The company Mercedes-Benz also acknowledge there were
forerunners to the Motorwagen, but also state that Benz was the first to develop "a
'horseless carriage' into a product for everyday use, which he then brought to market and as
a result made his idea useful for the entire world".[7]

References
1. Parissien, Steven (2014). The life of the automobile : the complete history of the motor car
(http://archive.org/details/lifeofautomobile0000pari_v0r8). Internet Archive. New York, N.Y. :
Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press. pp. 2–5. ISBN 978-1-250-04063-3.
2. "Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot" (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicolas-Joseph-Cugnot).
Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
3. Lavergne, Gérard (1902). The Automobile: Its Construction and Management. Cassell.
p. 17.
4. Frey, Carl Benedikt (2020). The Technology Trap: Capital, Labor, and Power in the Age of
Automation. Princeton University Press. p. 166. ISBN 9780691210797.
5. Bailey, Diane (2015). How the Automobile Changed History. ABDO. p. 28.
ISBN 9781629697666.
6. Georgano, G. N. (1985). Cars, 1886–1930. Beekman House. pp. 9, 16.
ISBN 9780517480731.
 7. "Forerunners to the automobile" (https://group.mercedes-benz.com/company/tradition/comp
any-history/forerunners-to-the-automobile.html). Mercedes-Benz Group. Retrieved
22 October 2022.
8. "Der Streit um den "Geburtstag" des modernen Automobils" (https://web.archive.org/web/20
170102082130/https://www.dpma.de/service/klassifikationen/ipc/ipcprojekt/einekurzegeschi
chtedesautomobils/geburtstagdesautos/index.html) [The fight over the birth of the modern
automobile] (in German). German Patent and Trade Mark Office. 2014-12-22. Archived from
the original (https://www.dpma.de/service/klassifikationen/ipc/ipcprojekt/einekurzegeschichte
desautomobils/geburtstagdesautos/index.html) on 2017-01-02.
9. Neil, Dan (2006-06-21). "Before the Rumble Seat" (https://www.latimes.com/news/la-hy-125
mbz21jun21-story.html). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
10. Karl Benz drives the first automobile 3 July 1886 (https://www.edn.com/karl-benz-drives-the-
first-automobile-july-3-1886/) edn.com
11. "Carl Benz and the Invention of the Automobile" (http://scihi.org/carl-benz-automobile/). 29
January 2018.
12. Hendrickson, Kenneth E. (2014). The Encyclopedia of the Industrial Revolution in World
History. Vol. 3rd. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 88. ISBN 9780810888883.
13. Rauck, Max (1986). "Das 1. Auto ist 100" [The first car is 100 years old]. Kultur & Technik (in
German). Deutsches Museum. p. 70.
14. von Fersen, Olaf (2013). Ein Jahrhundert Automobiltechnik: Personenwagen (in German).
Springer-Verlag. p. 10. ISBN 9783642957727.
15. Derry, Thomas Kingston; Williams, Trevor Illtyd (1960). A Short History of Technology from
the Earliest Times to A.D. 1900. Courier Corporation. p. 393. ISBN 9780486274720.
16. "The birth of the automobile" (https://web.archive.org/web/20151121032810/http://www.daim
ler.com/dccom/0-5-1322446-1-1323352-1-0-0-1322455-0-0-135-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html).
Daimler AG. Archived from the original (http://www.daimler.com/dccom/0-5-1322446-1-1323
352-1-0-0-1322455-0-0-135-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html) on 21 November 2015. Retrieved
1 October 2014.
17. Sorokanich, Bob (29 October 2019). "The First Benz Was a Dirty, Finger-Hungry Machine
That Was Easy to Drive" (https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a29052532/mercedes-b
enz-first-automotive-marketing-stunt-patent-motorwagen-story/). Road and Track. Retrieved
14 July 2024.
18. "Frauen in der Geschichte des Rechts – Von der Frühen Neuzeit bis zum Gegenwart", Ute
Gerhard e.a., Beck'se Verlagsbuchhandlung, München 1997, ISBN 3-406-42866-5, p. 464
19. MercedesForum (8 May 2011). "Making of 'Carl & Bertha' (Film)" (https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=yHIFE4vOeEo). Archived (https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/yHI
FE4vOeEo) from the original on 2021-12-14 – via YouTube.
20. Bertha Benz Memorial Route (http://www.bertha-benz.de/indexen.php?inhalt=home)
(German-government-approved non-profit official site)

External links
Patent 37435, by Karl Benz for his 1885 Motorwagon The birth certificate of the automobile
– the German patent application of January 29, 1886, that was granted on November 2,
1886, to Benz & Company in Mannheim
Automuseum Dr. Carl Benz, Ladenburg (Heidelberg) (https://web.archive.org/web/20110202
214814/http://www.automuseum-dr-carl-benz.de/)
John H. Lienhard on Bertha Benz's ride (http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2402.htm)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Benz_Patent-Motorwagen&oldid=1272543920"