1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen

The 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen is considered the world's first modern car. Developed by German automobile engineer Karl Benz, the Motorwagen has a one-cylinder gas engine designed by Benz himself, belt drive, rack and pinion steering and trembler coil ignition. It was in this automobile that Karl Benz's wife, Bertha, became the first person in history to drive in an automobile over a long distance. It is said that she set out early one August morning in 1888 with her sons, and without fuel and facing a torrent of challenges solved every single one. Bertha used a hair pin to unclog a fuel line and even pushed the automobile at one point. She visited a pharmacy to purchase fuel, called ligroin. Bertha's courageous journey of 120 miles "stoked enthusiasm" for the automobile among consumers who were yet unconvinced the horseless carriage was a safe and reliable form of transportation. Bertha and Karl Benz's contributions helped the automobile become one of the "most important cultural advances of the new era."