Ask anyone about the first gas powered car and they’ll probably bark "Karl Benz" before you can even finish the question. They aren't wrong, exactly. But they aren't totally right either.
It’s one of those history facts that feels settled until you actually look at the grease and the grit of the late 1800s. People were slapping engines onto carriages all over Europe. It was a mess of steam, electricity, and literally explosive experimentation. Yet, Karl Benz is the one we remember. Why? Because he didn't just build a machine; he built a system that actually worked without killing the driver immediately.
The Day Everything Changed (Sorta)
On January 29, 1886, Benz applied for patent DRP No. 37435. That's the birth certificate of the modern world. He called it a "vehicle powered by a gas engine."
Honestly, it looked like a giant tricycle for adults who had given up on life. It had three wheels because Benz wasn't happy with the steering systems available for four-wheeled carriages at the time. He thought they were clunky. So, he just skipped a wheel. Bold move.
The engine was a tiny thing by today's standards. We’re talking about a 954cc single-cylinder four-stroke engine. It put out roughly 0.75 horsepower. To put that in perspective, a modern lawnmower is a supercar compared to the first gas powered car. It reached a top speed of about 10 mph. If you ran fast enough, you could literally overtake the future of transportation on foot.
Why the "Gas" Part Was a Nightmare
We take gas stations for granted. You pull up, click a nozzle, and you're done. In 1886? Forget about it.
The fuel used wasn't even called "gasoline" in the way we use it. It was ligroin. You didn't get it at a pump; you bought it in small glass bottles from a pharmacy. It was a cleaning solvent. Imagine having to stop at a CVS every time your car got thirsty. That was the reality for the early pioneers.
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Bertha Benz: The Real Reason You’re Not Riding a Horse
Karl was a genius, but he was also a bit of a perfectionist who was terrified of public failure. He kept tinkering. He kept obsessing. He might have never marketed the thing if it wasn't for his wife, Bertha.
In August 1888, without telling Karl, Bertha took her two teenage sons and "borrowed" the Patent-Motorwagen. She drove 66 miles from Mannheim to Pforzheim. This wasn't a Sunday drive. There were no paved roads. There were no mechanics.
When the fuel line got clogged? She used her hatpin to poke it clear.
When an ignition wire shorted out? She used her garter to insulate it.
When the wooden brakes started to fail? She went to a local cobbler and had him nail leather strips onto the brake blocks.
She essentially invented the brake lining.
This road trip proved the first gas powered car wasn't just a toy for eccentric rich guys in their backyards. It was a tool. When she got back, she told Karl the car needed a lower gear for climbing hills. He added it. Behind every great man is a woman telling him his invention needs more torque.
The Technology Under the Hood (If There Was a Hood)
The mechanics of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen are surprisingly familiar if you know your way around a wrench. It featured a horizontal flywheel—huge and heavy—to keep the engine's momentum going. It had an intake slide valve, an exhaust poppet valve, and a trembler coil ignition.
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It used an evaporative cooler rather than a radiator. You had to constantly top off the water because it just steamed away into the atmosphere. It was loud. It smelled like a dry cleaner’s shop. It leaked.
But it worked.
The Competition Was Fierce
Benz wasn't alone in the "moving things without horses" race. Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach were working just miles away on their own version. They actually put a high-speed liquid-petroleum engine on a stagecoach in 1886.
So why does Benz get the "first" title?
It’s because Benz designed his car from the ground up as a single unit. Daimler just took a carriage and shoved an engine in it. Benz integrated the chassis and the motor. That is the definition of an "automobile"—an organism, not a Frankenstein’s monster of parts.
Common Misconceptions About Early Motoring
One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is that the internal combustion engine (ICE) was an instant winner. It wasn't.
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By 1900, if you were a wealthy person looking for a car, you probably would have bought an electric one. They were quiet, they didn't vibrate your teeth out of your skull, and they didn't require you to handle volatile chemicals. Steam was also a huge contender. Steam cars were fast and powerful.
The first gas powered car won the long game because of energy density. Liquid fuel packs a lot of punch for its weight. Once we figured out how to build gas stations and refine oil at scale, the quiet electric cars were relegated to the dustbin of history for a hundred years.
The Legacy of 0.75 Horsepower
Looking at a photo of the Motorwagen today, it’s easy to laugh. It looks fragile. It looks like it would fall apart if you sneezed on it. But every single feature of your 2026 SUV—the spark plugs, the differential, the carburetor (well, fuel injection now), the cooling system—traces its lineage directly back to that shaky three-wheeled contraption.
The first gas powered car didn't just change how we travel. It changed how we build cities. It changed how we wage war. It changed how we spend our weekends. It turned the world from a collection of isolated villages into a giant, connected map.
How to Experience the History Yourself
If you’re a gearhead or just someone who appreciates how we got here, you don't have to just look at grainy photos.
- Visit the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. They have a replica of the original 1886 model. Seeing it in person makes you realize how tiny it actually was.
- Look for "London to Brighton Veteran Car Run" footage. While it focuses on cars pre-1905, you get to see (and hear) what these atmospheric engines sound like. It’s a rhythmic, chugging "huff-huff-huff" that sounds nothing like a modern V8.
- Read the Patent. You can find the original DRP 37435 drawings online. The precision of the hand-drawn gears is a testament to what humans can do with a compass and a ruler.
Practical Steps for History Buffs
- Verify the source: If a "history" site tells you Henry Ford invented the first car, close the tab. He perfected the assembly line, but he was nearly 20 years late to the actual invention of the car.
- Trace the fuel: Research the history of "Ligroin." Understanding that cars started as "solvent-powered" machines changes how you view the oil industry.
- Study the Bertha Benz Memorial Route: You can actually drive the 120-mile loop today in Germany. It’s a fantastic way to see the terrain she conquered with only a hatpin and leather scraps for repairs.
The first gas powered car wasn't an inevitable discovery. It was a risky, expensive, and often ridiculed experiment that only survived because of a daring road trip and a patent office filing. We live in the world Karl and Bertha built. Every time you turn a key or push a start button, you’re echoing a vibration that started in a small workshop in Mannheim 140 years ago.