This question
does not have a straightforward answer. The history of the automobile
is very rich and dates back to the 15th century when Leonardo da
Vinci was creating designs and models for transport vehicles.
There are many different types of automobiles - steam, electric,
and gasoline - as well as countless styles. Exactly who invented
the automobile is a matter of opinion. If we had to give credit
to one inventor, it would probably be Karl Benz from Germany. Many
suggest that
he created
the first true automobile in 1885/1886.
Below is a table of some
automobile firsts, compiled from information in Leonard Bruno's
book Science and Technology Firsts (Detroit,
c1997) and About.com's
History of the Automobile.
AUTOMOBILE
FIRSTS |
Inventor |
Date |
Type/Description |
Country |
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (1725-1804) |
1769 |
STEAM / Built the first self propelled road vehicle
(military tractor) for the French army: three wheeled, 2.5 mph. |
France |
Robert Anderson |
1832-1839 |
ELECTRIC / Electric carriage. |
Scotland |
Karl Friedrich Benz (1844-1929) |
1885/86 |
GASOLINE / First true automobile. Gasoline automobile
powered by an internal combustion engine: three wheeled, Four
cycle, engine and chassis form a single unit. |
Germany Patent DRP No. 37435 |
Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (1834-1900) and Wilhelm
Maybach (1846-1929) |
1886 |
GASOLINE / First four wheeled, four-stroke engine-
known as the "Cannstatt-Daimler." |
Germany |
George Baldwin Selden (1846-1922) |
1876/95 |
GASOLINE / Combined internal combustion engine
with a carriage: patent no: 549,160 (1895). Never manufactured
-- Selden collected royalties. |
United States |
Charles Edgar Duryea (1862-1938) and his brother
Frank (1870-1967) |
1893 |
GASOLINE / First successful gas powered car: 4hp,
two-stroke motor. The Duryea brothers set up first American
car manufacturing company. |
United States |
Related
Web Sites |
|
Further
Reading |
- Bruno,
Leonard. Transportation. Science and technology firsts.
Detroit, Gale, c1997: 499-534.
- Burness,
Tad. Ultimate auto album: an illustrated history of the
automobile. Iola, WI, Krause Publications, c2001. 503
p.
-
Coffey,
Frank. America on wheels: the first 100 years: 1896-1996.
Los Angeles, General Publishing Group, c1998. 304 p.
- Eckermann,
Erik. World history of the automobile. Warrendale,
PA, Society of Automotive Engineers, c2001. 371 p.
- Georgano,
G.N. & Thorkil Ry Andersen, editors. The new encyclopedia
of motorcars, 1885 to the present. New York, Dutton,
1982. 688 p.
- Lafferty,
Peter. Top gear: the history of automobiles. New
York, F. Watts, c1990. 32 p.
|
For
more print resources...
Search on "benz, karl" "history
and automobile" or "internal
combustion engine"
in the Library of Congress Online
Catalog. |
An early Benz automobile. Photo courtesy of
Vintage Web Classic
Cars Picture Archive.
Horseless buggy
made by Charles and Frank Duryea, 1893. The first practical
gasoline automobile built in the United States. Prints
and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
De
Dion motor carriage #2. c1901. Prints
and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
First
automobile on Pa. Avenue, 1896. Prints
and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
Early
steam automobile presented to Smithsonian / Underwood &
Underwood, Washington, 1928. Prints
and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
Austro
Daimler by A.E.N. Paul Neumann (advertisement for Daimler automobiles),
1918. Prints and Photographs
Division, Library of Congress.
|