Benz Patent Motor Car
Karl Benz, Germany, patent DRP 37435 of 1886. The first true automobile.
Overview
Benz's three-wheeler, patented January 1886, integrated a purpose-built gasoline engine, electric ignition, and differential. Bertha Benz's 1888 marketing drive of 106 km bought fuel at pharmacies and invented brake linings en route. Daimler's separate four-wheel work led to the 1926 Mercedes-Benz merger. The patent year 1886 is celebrated as the automobile's birth. Litigation-light, it simply launched everything from suburbs to drive-ins.
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