29th January 1886 – the birth of the motorcar?

15 January 2026

29th January 2026 marks the 140th anniversary of the granting of German patent No. 37345 to Karl Benz of Mannheim. The subject of his patent was the Benz Motorwagen, a lightly constructed three-wheeled vehicle powered by a single-cylinder petrol engine. Although there was nothing new about a petrol-fueled internal combustion engine, Benz was the first person to successfully match the technology to a road vehicle.

Benz had created his first stationary engine in 1880. A troubled few years followed which would see him enter a business partnership with Emil Buhler in 1881 before forming the new company Gasmotoren-fabrik, Mannheim in October 1882. A year later, after falling out with board members, Benz created Benz & Cie, Rhieinische Gasmotoren-fabrik, supported by his wife Bertha and financed by businessmen Max Rose and Friedrich Esslinger. Sales of Benz stationary engines went well, affording Karl Benz the time to develop his ideas for a lightweight engine with which to power horseless carriages. Development of the Motorwagen progressed through 1885 leading to his successful patent application of January 1886. Further developments took place in the following years leading to production versions and the appointment of Emile Roger of Paris as the first Benz sales agent in 1889.

While Benz was toiling with the first Motorwagen in Mannheim, sixty miles away in Bad Canstatt two former employees of the Deutz Gasmotoren-fabrik, Gottleib Daimler and Willhelm Maybach, were developing the Daimler Motorwagen, a four-wheeled vehicle for which a patent would be granted seven months after Benz’s in August 1886.

Thus began the story of the modern motor car and the genesis of two giants of the motor industry that would later amalgamate to form the mighty Daimler-Benz company in 1926.

Patent 37435, by Karl Benz for his 1885 Motorwagon The birth certificate of the automobile – the German patent application of January 29, 1886, that was granted on November 2, 1886, to Benz & Company in Mannheim

Deutsch: Patent "Fahrzeug mit Gasmotorenbetrieb" (Benz Patent-Motorwagen Nummer 1), eingereicht am 29. Januar 1886 und als Nr. 37435 am 2. November 1886 vom Kaiserlichen Patentamt erteilt.

Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt / Kaiserliches Patentamt, Benz & Co. in Mannheim

Deutsch: Patent "Fahrzeug mit Gasmotorenbetrieb" (Benz Patent-Motorwagen )

The Benz Patent-Motorwagen, built by Karl Benz and patented in 1886, is recognized as the world's first practical automobile, “featuring a gasoline-powered internal combustion engine, electric ignition, and a three-wheeled design for steering. It was the first car put into series production, with its historic long-distance journey by Bertha Benz in 1888 proving its viability and marking a key step towards modern motoring.” It was the first commercially available automobile in history.

A replica of the Benz prototype ‘Motorwagen’

We have a working replica at the National Motor Museum here at Beaulieu. James May of Top Gear was filmed talking a trip around the grounds in 2007.

Karl Benz in his Benz motor car, 1886.

Karl Benz in his Benz motor car, 1886. On 3rd July 1886 Benz showed the first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine, a car that he had designed and built himself. It was originally a three wheeled car, as can be seen in the image. The fourth wheel was added in 1893. His company Benz and Co. manufactured both of these cars. Karl Benz in his Benz motor car, 1886.

Photograph from the National Motor Museum Motoring Picture Library

Motoring Picture Library