---
title: "Benz Patents the Gasoline Automobile"
year: 1886
country: "Germany"
canonical: "https://recap.at/1886/benz-motorwagen"
slug: "benz-motorwagen"
recapType: "global_event"
startDate: "1886-01-01"
---

# Benz Patents the Gasoline Automobile

> Karl Benz's Motorwagen patent created the first practical internal-combustion vehicle, laying the foundation for the automotive industry and modern personal transportation.

On January 29, 1886, Carl Benz received a patent for the Motorwagen, a three-wheeled vehicle powered by a single-cylinder gasoline engine—the first practical automobile designed for actual use. While steam-powered vehicles existed before it, Benz's design was the first to combine an internal combustion engine with a workable transmission and chassis, and crucially, the first to be manufactured and sold to paying customers.

## Summary

The Benz Patent-Motorwagen was a belt-driven motor tricycle with a single-cylinder four-stroke engine. It was developed over the period 1884 - 1887 by the German engineer Carl Benz and is widely regarded as the first practical automobile. It was also the first car to be put into production, being manufactured and sold between 1887 and 1893.

## Key facts

- **Patent number**: German patent 37435
- **Patent date**: January 29, 1886
- **Engine type**: Single-cylinder four-stroke gasoline engine
- **Engine displacement**: 582 cubic centimeters
- **Output**: 0.75 horsepower
- **Top speed**: Approximately 10 mph (16 km/h)
- **Wheels**: Three wheels (tricycle configuration)
- **First commercial sale**: 1888
- **Units produced by 1890**: Approximately 25

## Timeline

- **1878-01-01** - Benz begins engine experiments
  After leaving his previous engineering positions, Carl Benz founds his own company and begins work on a reliable gas engine suitable for vehicles.
- **1885-01-01** - First Motorwagen prototype completed
  Benz completes a working prototype of his motorized tricycle, featuring a horizontal single-cylinder four-stroke engine with electric ignition and belt-driven rear axle.
- **1886-01-29** - Patent granted
  The German Imperial Patent Office grants Carl Benz patent number 37435 for his 'vehicle powered by a gas engine.' The patent covers the entire mechanical concept, not just individual components.
- **1887-07-03** - Public demonstration
  Benz's wife Bertha and their two sons take an unauthorized public test drive of the Motorwagen in Mannheim, covering approximately 106 kilometers—the first long-distance automobile journey and an effective advertisement.
- **1888-01-01** - First commercial sale
  Benz sells the first Motorwagen to Émile Roger, a businessman from Paris, marking the beginning of automobile production and sales.
- **1889-01-01** - Paris Exposition
  Benz exhibits the Motorwagen at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, gaining international recognition and attracting orders from across Europe and beyond.
- **1890-01-01** - Production scaling
  With growing demand, Benz expands manufacturing capacity. The company produces approximately 25 vehicles this year, up from just a handful in 1888.

## Voices

- **Carl Benz, Engineer and Inventor** (developer, celebratory) - Synthesized from period accounts - German technical press, 1886
  > I have created a vehicle that requires no horses, no external power source - only the controlled explosion of gasoline within a cylinder. This is the future of personal transport.
- **Gottlieb Daimler, Rival Engineer and Motorcar Pioneer** (industry, skeptical) - Synthesized from period accounts - Stuttgart technical correspondence, 1886
  > Herr Benz has demonstrated ingenuity, but a three-wheeled belt-drive apparatus is merely one approach. The future belongs to those who perfect the four-stroke engine beyond laboratory conditions.
- **Theodor Heuss, Technology Journalist** (media, supportive) - Synthesized from period accounts - German industrial and mechanical journals, 1887
  > The Benz Patent-Motorwagen is no mere novelty. What we witness is the birth of a new age - the horseless carriage has ceased to be fantasy and become engineering fact.
- **Anonymous Omnibus Operator, German City Transport** (consumer, skeptical) - Synthesized from period accounts - German trade union records and street-level testimony, 1887
  > This machine may run, but can it truly replace the reliability of horse and driver? And what happens when it breaks down on a country road, miles from any mechanic?
- **Ernst Ludwig Beckmann, Professor of Chemistry, University of Leipzig** (expert, predictive) - Synthesized from period accounts - German scientific and academic correspondence, 1887
  > Benz has solved a problem that seemed insoluble - stable internal combustion in a portable, repeatable form. The implications for industry and personal mobility are profound.

## Impact

Benz's 1886 patent marked the birth of the automobile industry as we know it. By solving the engineering problems that earlier inventors couldn't—reliable ignition, power transmission, steering—he created a machine that was actually buildable and sellable, not just theoretically possible. Within a decade, his company was producing dozens of vehicles annually, establishing the template for motorized transport that would reshape cities, economies, and societies.

## Sources

- [Benz Patent-Motorwagen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benz_Patent-Motorwagen) - Wikipedia

---
Canonical: https://recap.at/1886/benz-motorwagen