History of Cars Part 1

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Cars were a game-changer in more than one way. I mean two centuries ago who would have imagined that you could travel hundreds of kilometers in a metal box on wheels? But how did it all start and what were the major developments that these modern wonders had to go through before reaching the pinnacle of technology they are now?
So here we are with a brief history of cars… and trust me it is way more interesting than it sounds. Here we go –

THE BEGINNING

The word ‘Car’ originates either from the Latin word ‘Carrus’ meaning wheeled vehicle or from Middle English word ‘Carre’ meaning two-wheeled cart. The term Motor Car on the other hand made its first appearance in late 19th century followed by ‘Auto Car’ which means self-propelled car. The term ‘horseless carriage’ also made its appearance around the same time. It was only a couple of years later that the term ‘Automobile’ derived from Greek ‘autos’ and ‘mobilis’, meaning self-movable, was introduced.

But the origin of cars trace back to a much farther date than the name itself. It was in 1672 that Ferdinand Verbiest designed the first working steam-powered vehicle. Then in 1769, Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot built the first full-scale self-propelled mechanical car, which made use of steam just like its predecessor. Richard Trevithick’s 1801 road locomotive made use of steam too.

In 1807, Niepce brothers Nicephore and Claude created the world’s first internal combustion engine and in the same year, Swiss inventor Francois Issac de Rivaz developed his own combustion engine and subsequently the first vehicle to be powered by such an engine. But the first actual working car was only unveiled in 1881 when French inventor Gustave Trouve demonstrated a three-wheeled car powered by electricity in Paris.

KARL BENZ

Karl Benz is considered to be the inventor of the modern car. He was granted the patent for his first engine in 1879 and his first Motorwagen (that is the world’s first production automobile) was built in 1885. After filing for its patent in 1886 under the company’s name of Benz & Cie. (est. 1883), the promotion of the vehicle began in earnest. The first 25 Benz vehicles were sold from 1888 to 1893.
Also, August 1888 marks the historical time when Bertha Benz, Karl Benz’s wife undertook the first road trip by car to prove the practicality of her husband’s invention. She is the first long distance driver in the world. And around 1893 that the first four-wheeler was introduced with internal combustion flat engine following soon after in 1896. By now, Benz was the largest car company in the world.

DMG

But Benz wasn’t the only company manufacturing cars in the late 19th century. Daimler and Maybach founded DMG (Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft in 1890 in Germany and sold their first car, Daimler, in 1892. It was in 1900, After Daimler’s death that Maybach designed an engine named Daimler-Mercedes and two years later, a new model Mercedes was produced in 1902.
In 1921, after years of negotiations, DMG and Benz & Cie. signed an agreement of mutual interest before finally merging in June 1928 as the Daimler-Benz company and all cars henceforth named… Mercedes Benz!
That’s it for this part! In the next part of this write-up we will take a look at the development of cars in America and the advent of cars as we know now. Don’t forget to check it out… after all, things are just getting interesting.