- Who
- Unknown
- What
- first
- Where
- Germany (Karlsruhe)
- When
- 1885
The first successful petrol-driven car, the Motorwagen, built by Karl Friedrich Benz (1844-1929) of Karlsruhe, Germany, ran at Mannheim, Germany, in late 1885. The three-wheeler weighed 254 kg (560 lb) and could reach a speed of 13-16 km/h (8-10 mph). Its single-cylinder engine (bore 91.4 mm; 3.6 in, stroke 160 mm; 6.3 in) delivered 0.63 kW (0.85 hp) at 400 rpm. It was patented on 29 January 1886. Its first 1-km (0.6-mile) road test was reported in the local newspaper, the Neue Badische Landeszeitung, on 4 June 1886, under the heading `Miscellaneous'.
