1885 Benz
Patent Motorwagen
The precursor built by Daimler and Maybach was not classified as an automobile since it was a horse-drawn carriage purchased from another manufacturer, which they adapted by putting an engine onto it to move two of the wheels. In contrast, the Benz Patent Motorwagen had a chassis that was designed from the beginning as an integral part of a vehicle that would be motorized, therefore making the vehicle qualify for a patent as an invention.
The first stationary gasoline engine developed by Carl Benz was a one-cylinder two-stroke unit which ran for the first time on New Year’s Eve 1879. Benz had so much commercial success with this engine that he was able to devote more time to his dream of creating a lightweight car powered by a gasoline engine, in which the chassis and engine formed a single unit.
The major features of the two-seater vehicle, which was completed in 1885, were the compact high-speed single-cylinder four-stroke engine installed horizontally at the rear, the tubular steel frame, the differential and three wire-spoked wheels. The engine output was 0.75 hp. Details included an automatic intake slide, a controlled exhaust valve, high-voltage electrical vibrator ignition with spark plug, and water/thermo siphon evaporation cooling.
On January 29, 1886, Carl Benz applied for a patent for his “vehicle powered by a gas engine.” The patent – number 37435 – may be regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile. In July 1886 the newspapers reported on the first public outing of the three-wheeled Benz Patent Motor Car, model no. 1.
chassis complete before painting