Karl Benz: biography and interesting facts. What was the world's first car?

In the second half of the 19th century, the question of what would soon appear the first car, had already been resolved. The only thing that remained unclear was who will be the first in his invention. At the same time, several innovators worked in this direction. Some of them managed to obtain patents for their inventions in the same year. Who is considered officially the creator of the car? This article is about Carl Bentz.

Benz is a hereditary railroader

In the genus of the inventor there were several hereditary blacksmiths. In the past centuries, this profession obliged not only to create metal products, but also to be able to design them, that is, to be both artisans and mechanics, as well as engineers and technologists.

Karl Benz was the son of one of these blacksmiths. And thanks to the development of the railway in German lands, Johann Georg Benz became a steam locomotive driver. However, this is what led to his death in the near future. Four months before the birth of Charles, his father was very cold in the cockpit with the windows open, which caused him to die of pneumonia. Education of the future inventor was engaged in the mother, who was a French emigrant.

The first lessons

After the incident with the father of unhappiness, the mother could not allow her only son, Karl Benz, to connect his life with the railway. She saw him as a government official. But the young man was drawn to technology. So, in the lyceum he was fond of studying physics and chemistry, often stayed after school to study in the school laboratory.

The hobby led to the occupation of photography, which gave him the opportunity to receive the first earnings necessary for his family. Another occupation was the repair of the watch. Over time, the mother allowed him to equip him with a workshop in the attic.

Technical education

All the enthusiasm of the son convinced the mother that the post of an official was not the best for him. With her permission, Karl Benz entered the Polytechnic School. At that time the educational institution was the scientific center of mechanical engineering in Germany. They worked here to find a new engine. It was supposed to be an alternative to a steam engine.

All ideas that were associated with the creation of a powerful and compact engine, and Karl Benz was infected.

Starting your own business

Having graduated from the Polytechnic School, which by that time had received the status of a university, the innovator found a job in a machine building plant. At the time it was believed that the designer should first work as a fitter for "hardening".

Karl Benz, whose biography is considered, began to work for twelve hours in a semi-dark shop. After two years of exhausting work, after gaining the necessary experience, he resigned. Five years later, Karl was a draftsman, a designer in engineering. At this time, he collected funds for his own business. Benz had a dream to create a self-propelled crew.

A significant change in his life was the death of his mother and the acquaintance with the young Bertha Ringer. The girl was from the family of a wealthy carpenter, which positively influenced the opening of her own business.

The engineer created his workshop with A. Ritter in Mannheim. The dream of creating his vehicle did not leave Bentz for a minute, but the concern about the financial well-being of the family, which was growing, demanded to reduce the funds for design development.

First successes

For the success of his business, Benz took risks and got into difficult financial situations. Once he was almost deprived of his own business with the land. To solve all the problems, it was necessary to create something meaningful. The couple saw a way out in the invention of an internal combustion engine.

However, this idea has long been in the air and the minds of many engineers and inventors, so it was not surprising that N. Otto patented the engine earlier. However, this involved a four-stroke engine, so their efforts were directed to the creation of a two-stroke engine. The future Benz car had to operate on combustible gas.

The engine was launched on New Year's Eve in 1878. Serial release began three years later at the plant in Mannheim. At this enterprise, the innovator was very limited in his rights, so he left it and started everything from scratch with other partners. But new investors did not hurry to invest in the creation of the car.

At the same time, Nikolaos Otto's patent was revoked, and innovators, including Benz, stepped up their own business in creating a four-stroke motor designed for automotive applications.

Search for buyers

By the summer of 1886, a car was created and publicly tested, the creator of which was Karl Benz. The patent was signed six months before this event and received the number 37435. The motor worked on a mixture of air with gasoline vapors. The car itself moved on three wheels, because the problem of synchronous turning was not solved.

Despite the successful invention from a technical point of view and supportive press reviews, the trolley with the engine was not successful for conservative Germans. The inventor had to advertise his offspring at various exhibitions, including in Munich and Paris.

Together with attempts to adjust sales, Carl continued to improve the car. Six years later, the "motor-wagon" consisted of four wheels, was supplemented by a two-speed transmission. There were new models of the brand Benz. Sales grew, especially at the expense of France. Later, the cars of this company mastered the market of Europe, Russia, South America.

By the 20th century the history of the car did not stop, it began to gain more serious turnovers, and the business of Benz also expanded.

The innovator died at the age of 84, transferring his case to his sons, who organized at the age of sixty in the city of Ladenburg.

Specifications of the first car

The German engineer was creating his car secretly, as the issue of patents was crucial.

Main characteristics:

• Total weight - 263 kg;
• The weight of the four-stroke engine is 96 kg;
• The engine was cooled with water;
• The presence of one cylinder, clutch, neutral and front transmission in the transmission;
• Three wheels;
• Belt brake;
• Chain drive.

The famous trip of Bertha Bents with her sons

The wife of the inventor played an important role in his life. She supported her husband in his endeavors both in material terms (father-in-law invested his money in dealing with engines and handed over the dowry to Bertha before marriage), and in the moral. There is also a story (a Benz car) about how a woman with her sons went on a trip with a range of almost 110 km.

It happened in August 1888. The route passed from the city of Mannheim to Pfrotsgeym, in which Bertha's mother lived. A few days later the woman with the children on the same car returned home.

During the trip, there were several difficulties with which the spouse and children were able to cope on their own:

• The site with a steep climb was overcome so - one son sat behind the wheel, and the mother with the second son pushed the car from behind;
• The bursting leather drive belt was patched by a local shoemaker near Bruchsal;
• The role of the punctured insulation for the electric drive was carried out by a stocking garter;
• The formed stopper in a tube with fuel could be cleaned with a simple hairpin.

The trip was an excellent promotion, as it made it clear to a skeptical society that even a woman with children can drive a car, eliminating minor breakdowns if necessary. Also, the trip made it possible to identify shortcomings in the operation of the car and eliminate them.

Berta Benz is known as the first woman behind the wheel. She was given the right to drive in the same year.