Gallery

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

World's first car

Karl Benz played a prominent role in promoting the development of the automobile. Some 25 units of the Benz Patent Motor Car of 1886 – the world's first automobile – were built. It goes without saying that Benz knew that a four-wheeled car would have greater cornering stability, however, he found the steering systems used for carriages at the time to be unsuitable for his purposes. He solved the problem – and filed a patent for his double-pivot steering (DRP 73515) in 1893. He installed it in the same year in his four-wheeled Victoria model. However, he had a lighter car in mind. At the World Exposition in Chicago (May 1 – October 31, 1893), Benz finally presented his Velocipede to the public. It was to become the world's first car from large-scale production and at the same time the first small car. Benz produced more than 1,200 units of this car between 1894 and 1902