*A Quick Disclaimer: I will be referring to the car as an automobile throughout the post because it lacks one key characteristic that makes up a car as we know it*

In this week’s post I will be covering the original automobile, The 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen. This may be the single most influential automobile that I will touch on in this blog due to the fact that it was the very first automobile to grace the world.

The automobile was designed and manufactured by the legendary Karl Benz (One of the founders of the world renown car company Mercedes-Benz) in Germany during the late 19th century. This automobile was technically completed in 1885, but the patent for this invention did not go through until 1886. Because of this, the automobile was not unveiled to the public until 1886 (hence the name).

As I previously stated, the 1886 Benz Motorwagen is the original automobile. So, there was no precedent for Karl Benz to work off of. This made the configuration of the 1886 Motorwagen a one of a kind that was never duplicated simply because of advancement and innovation in the automotive field. This automobile had its gasoline powered, single-cylinder four-stroke engine mounted in the back. The body was constructed out of steel tubing and woodwork panels. There was no steering wheel, instead there was a contraption called a “Toothed Rack” that pivoted the front wheel in order to direct the automobile. Another feature only seen in the 1886 Benz Motorwagen is its belt system. This invention only had one transmission that consisted of chain drive that varied the torque between an open gear and a drive gear.

As I mentioned in the disclaimer at the beginning of the post, I will not be referring to this automobile as a car because of one fundamental difference this invention had compared to cars distributed throughout the world. And that difference is that this invention only had three wheels, meaning that the 1886 Benz Motorwagen is technically a motorized tricycle. This fact makes this invention the first automobile, but not necessarily the first car. This brings up an interesting debate that I won’t touch on in this post, but I would love to hear your opinion on it: Do you think that the 1886 Benz Motorwagen should be considered the first ever car or not? Feel free to tell me what you think in the chat.

Unfortunately for Karl Benz, he was not very successful in selling and distributing his amazing invention to the masses. He was only able to sell about 25 Motorwagens before he did something unheard of at the time. Benz teamed up with his competitor, Gottlieb Daimler. This partnership was one of the very first significant company mergers in history. This partnership ended up paying huge dividends for both men and the automotive industry. Together, they improved and innovated Karl Benz’s invention and properly introduced the automobile to the world. Benz and Daimler’s company would go on to become Mercedes-Benz, the second most profitable car company in the world today (Mercedes-Benz is only behind Toyota).

The 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen was not just the very first automobile, but it was also the beginning of one of the most influential companies in the car industry today, Mercedes-Benz. Because of these factors, this automobile is arguably the most influential car in history.