In the year 1886 a new chapter in the history of the means of transport opens: that of individual mobility. Something already long awaited centuries ago, but in a way almost unnoticed by public opinion at that time, the first motorized carriages of Gottlieb Daimler in Cannstatt and the so-called Pantent Motorwagen by Karl Benz in Mannheim came to the world.
By then, few inventions like the automobile had changed people's lives so much and provided so much mobility. At first, this new device aroused great admiration, but also ascepticism, since the steam engine, invented since 1765 by the British James Watt, offered for more than 100 years a very valid solution that had contributed decisively to the spectacular development of the industry. Since 1830, steam had been successfully applied to locomotives that towed passenger and freight cars on rails. And already towards the time of 1860, the steam trains already reached speeds of up to 100 km / h. It was not until 1886 that the railroad had its equivalent on highways, through which animal-powered means of transport continued to circulate. The idea of conceiving a car without hair came from afar, the same as the attempts to apply the steam engine to a means of land transportation. The first known steam car was the "Fardier", a vehicle created by the Frenchman Robert Cugnot in 1769.
In 1786, the British engineer W. Symington presented a much more elegant steam vehicle prepared for the transport of people. In 1828, Onésiphore Pecquer perfected the driving characteristics of the vehicle thanks to the invention of the differential. Steam cars became relatively popular, mostly in France and the United Kingdom. Already in 1880 there were some steam "cars" suitable for driving on the road.
These vehicles, called (locomoviles) even reached a fairly decent speed, although they were heavy, difficult to drive and consumed huge amounts of coal and water. The proud owner who did not want to get his hands dirty hired the service of a "heater" that is, a chauffeur (from the French chauffeur, the one who warms). gas engines were also tested.
The Swiss Issac de Rivas invented a hydrogen internal combustion engine, mounted it on a chassis in 1813, and took test drives around the Swiss town of Vevey, on the shores of Lake Geneva. But there everything stayed. At that time, using gas as a propellant was a difficult task for the times.
In 1865, the Austrian Siegfried Markus mounted a high-volume stationary engine on a road and managed to travel a distance of 200 meters. In 1888 he built a second vehicle with a four-stroke engine that for several decades, due to a dating error (1877), was considered the first automobile. At the Universal Expisition of Paris in 1867, Nikolaus August Otto presented a two-stroke naturally aspirated engine with internal combustion that was awarded as "the most powerful and economical machine". However, its power was still quite limited. The 3 HP team was four meters high, while the 10 HP weighed four tons.
Otto looked for a constructive way out and in May 1878 he made the big blow with a four-stroke engine with a volumetric compressor. Thus was born the principle of the four strokes, and the internal combustion engines, despite continuing to be stationary, were increasingly powerful and smaller.
Those in charge of destroying the labyrinth of dreams and hopes, as well as finding the precise path that would end up leading to individual mobility, were the tenacious German builders Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz. In 1883, aided by his close associate and friend Wilhelm Maybach, Daimler gave life in Cannstatt near Stuttgart, the first light and fast gasoline engine. In a historic step, the two inventors made a very old dream come true, the universal four-stroke propulsion (patented in 1885), as well as two important new discoveries such as resistance ignition and the float-type carburetor, was now ready to go. ride in carriages, train cars, small boats, ships or in the first airplanes. The motor was also very suitable for driving pumps and electric generators. It awaited him in demonic perfection. By land, water and air, as Gottlieb Daimler longed for and as symbolized by the three points of the later Mercedez star.
Daimler started by installing the engine in a two-wheeler, which turned out to be a very inexpensive prototype. On November 10, 1885, Adolf, Daimler's youngest son, made a three-kilometer journey with this first motorcycle (patented on August 29, 1885 under the name "Reitrad"), which separated Cannstatt from Unterturkheim, which they became the first public trip. The next step, taken in the summer of 1886, was the mounting of the engine in a carruje
The first trips with the motorized carriage, however, are not documented before the summer of 1888. Those made before this year must have been only test trips. On this historical event there are no official news. Noteworthy is that on July 17, 1888, Daimler submitted an application for authorization to circulate "a light four-seater carriage with a small engine.
He did not need a driver's license, as it was not officially introduced until 1910. Before its spread into automobile construction, the Daimler engine was all the rage in small boats and was used successfully in pumps to pay fires in traction of cars. trams. The demand for a new form of propulsion increased unceasingly; By 1887, Daimler was already producing in a small factory and was heading towards the development of complete vehicles.
At the World's Fair in Paris in 1889, Daimler and Maybach presented the Stahlradwagen, a highly advanced construction car that attracted all eyes and that, to give a precise idea of its technical exclusivity, had a sprocket transmission instead of one per strap. Still, it was too advanced a model for the time, which is why the public showed greater enthusiasm for the engine coupled to a dynamo made by Daimler.
Even so, the Stahlradwagen aroused the interest of a lady and two gentlemen (Madame Sarazin, Monsieur Panhard and Monsieur Levassor). The result was the granting of a license to the company Panhard and Levassor, which in future would install Daimler engines in their models. Thanks to the reliability of the engines, the cars equipped with them also performed well in all kinds of sports competitions. With the founding of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG), a public limited company, a new era began in 1890 in which the company expanded rapidly thanks to the reliability, quality and good performance of its engines and cars.
Karl Benz entered the scene in Mannheim in 1885. Like Gottlieb Daimler, Benz was trying to find a light engine suitable for installing in a car, although he went much further, as he aspired to create a vehicle where the chassis and the engine form a whole. harmonic, that is, a completely new vehicle of cenception. The first test trips of his prototype were made in 1885. To keep the tests secret, they took place in the factory yard and ended next to the factory walls. The first exit outside the enclosure only lasted a couple of minutes, as the car stopped after traveling 100 meters. From 100 meters, however, soon it went over 1000, Benz noted later "It is probable that with the car I would reach a speed of 16 km / h. Each exit gave me greater confidence. On each trip I discovered new defects in the engine, on the other hand, however, each trip taught me new ways to perfect it, so that in January 1886 I was able to patent the vehicle. "
On January 29, 1886, Benz patented his vehicle which runs on an internal combustion engine; the single-cylinder, four-stroke gasoline engine already had a four-stroke electric ignition. The registration of the patent with the number 37435 is considered as the date of birth of the car. The title of the patent read "vehicle that works with an internal combustion engine" and began with the words: "The present construction intends the operation, in the first place, of cars and small boats capable of transporting one to four people. The vehicle is driven by a small internal combustion engine, no matter what kind. Gas is formed in the device from ligroin or other fuels. The engine cylinder is kept at a constant temperature thanks to water cooling. "
In the summer of 1886, the newspapers reported on the first public motorized tricycle trip patented by Benz. This is how it was narrated in the Neue Badische Landeszeitung of July 4, 1886: "Fans of speed sports may like to know that in this field A new invention has appeared, whose artice is the local company Benz y Cie. In the aforementioned factory, a three-wheeled vehicle is currently being built ... Rear drive wheels on springs located above the axle of the wheels.Despite its delicate appearance, the vehicle has a force similar to that of a horse and goes at 300 revolutions per minute (hereinafter, RPM), hence its speed can reach that of a passenger train ... The vehicle is not much larger than a normal tricycle and has a very nice and elegant appearance. Without a doubt, this vehicle will soon have many enthusiasts, because it is expected to be extremely practical and useful for physicians, travelers and sports enthusiasts "
The Benz Patent Motorwagen was soon parked in a corner, as Benz's progress in the automotive field resulted in the production of new models that, despite not presenting substantial differences with respect to the aforementioned, had more powerful engines and more robust chassis. The second model was equipped with a 1.5 hp engine, and the third with a 2 hp. The weight / power ratio had only been reduced to 42 kg / hp, although at 500 RPM it was already the first light and relatively fast Benz engine. In 1887 a variant of the tricycle was built with wooden spoked wheels, a small fuel tank, and a manuel brake with leather-covered shoes that acted on rear wheels. Until 1888, Karl Benz acquired four other German patents, including the one for the fireproof carburetor.
One morning in August, Bertha, the enterprising and daring wife of Karl Benz, climbed with her children Eugen and Richard into one of the new vehicles designed by her husband and, without him having the slightest knowledge of her intentions, gave the start to the first "long distance old man" in the history of the automobile. The trio left Mannheim and ended their excursion in Pforzheim after passing through Weinheim, Heidelberg, Wiesloch and Durlach. In this way it was shown that the horseless carriage was already prepared to meet the challenges that its builder had imposed on it. Along the way, Mrs. Bertha cleaned the clogged carburetor with a hat needle and insulated a bare electrical wire with a rubber band.
On the slopes, Bertha used to ask for help, as 1.5 CV was not always enough. The brake shoe, heavily damaged, had to be covered several times with new leather. On the other hand, the supply of "ligroin", as gasoline was known then, was made at the Wiesloch pharmacy. The world's first motorist arrived at her destination in the afternoon: it was full of dust, but safe and sound and loaded with new experiences. With this trip, of 180 km if the return journey is also included, Bertha showed everyone the possibilities of use that the car offered.
We hope this small summary in retrospect of what the history and evolution of the automobile has been since its inception has served you. If you want to know more about the automobiles that came after this, until today; leave your like and comment, to create more articles... Thanks for your attention
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