An Early History of the Automobile

The automobile is a modern convenience that the majority of people all over the world have come to rely on to get more or less wherever they want to go, so much so that life without them is almost incomprehensible in modern times. Motor vehicles came to prominence steadily over the course of the 20th century, but before that, who was the first to separate horse from carriage and design a way for the carriage to propel itself?

Ferdinand Verbiest is credited with the invention of the very first invention that could reasonably come under the name, automobile. It was in 1672 that he invented a toy for the Chinese Emperor of the time that was a small, steam powered, carriage-like (although too small for a passenger or driver) toy auto mobile.

Following that came a series of self-propelled, mechanical engines and clumsy internal combustion engines, the first of which can be accredited to Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, who built the first self-propelled mechanical vehicle in around 1769, however there is speculation as to whether or not his vehicle was ever actually functional.

The first internal combustion engine was invented in 1806 by Franois Isaac de Rivaz, an inventor from Switzerland. It was powered using a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, but was not all that successful. Strictly speaking it worked but it was not very efficient and provided nothing like the comfortable ride that modern engines do.

The man that history seems to give most of the credit too for inventing the modern automobile is Karl Benz, despite the fact that there were quite a few other inventors working on it at the same time such as Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach, and Siegfried Marcus. Benz had completed his motorwagen by 1885, was granted the patent in January 1886 and by 1893, had sold 25 vehicles to the wealthy folk of the day who could afford the latest luxuries.

DMG (Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft / Daimler Motor Company) was founded in 1890 by Daimler and Maybach and under the brand name Daimler, sold their first vehicle in 1892, which was simply a horse-drawn carriage, with an engine of their own design fitted into it. By around 1895 they had built around 30 vehicles, yet they, and Benz, seemed to be unaware of each others early work.

We then hit the 20th century, throughout which motor vehicles steadily became more and more sophisticated pieces of machinery and towards the end of which the piston and crankshaft engines came about. Mergers in subsequent years between Benz and DMG produced the Daimler-Benz company and the Mercedes-Benz vehicle range.