Cars have long become a familiar means of transportation for each of us. But it is difficult to imagine how many stages the car went through before becoming everyday transport. And its history is really very long and begins long before the invention of the prototype of the modern car.
How did it all start?
Of course, now it is extremely difficult to restore the history of the invention and understand which car was the very first. Perhaps, for now, there are hidden facts for us that will move the date of the first attempts even further. But while historians remember 1672.
It was then that the toy was developed, which is often compared to a car. Ferdinand Verbiest was engaged in the invention of a prototype machine for the Chinese emperor. But since it was just an idea, it was made into a toy model.
Such a "car" was more like a cart that could move by refueling coal. However, she could drive for more than an hour. Then Verbiest introduced the concept of "motor", which turned out to be closest to its modern meaning.
Attempts in Russia
In Russia alsothey tried to invent the very first car, so in 1752 Mikhail Lomonosov was presented with a prototype of the first car. They were engaged in an ordinary peasant Leonty Shamshurenkov.
The inventor brought to St. Petersburg a four-wheeled independent carriage, which had a pedal drive. He proved that his transport could move at a speed of 15 km/h. Leonty also showed Lomonosov the first prototype of a verstometer, which showed the distance traveled by a car.
After 30 years in Russia, attempts continued to approach the modern car. In the early 1780s, Ivan Kulibin worked on a modification of the carriage, where he was going to add pedals. Already in 1791, he managed to present a three-wheeled carriage that moved at a speed of 16.2 km / h. This invention introduced people to the gearbox, flywheel and rolling bearings.
Since no one in the state supported such inventions, many stopped working on them.
German "car industry"
What was the very first car in the world? It is impossible to answer this question precisely, but it is known that Karl Benz was the most influential person in the emerging "car industry" in Germany. It was thanks to this German engineer that many modern automotive technologies became known.
Nikolaus Otto was the first to introduce the four-stroke gasoline internal combustion engine. Rudolf Diesel also worked on it. Interestingly, the German Christian Friedrich also worked on the fuel itself, who replaced gasolineon a hydrogen fuel cell.
Paired
Steam cars were one of the first prototypes of modern models. It all started, as previously mentioned, with Ferdinand Verbiest and his toys for the Chinese emperor. Such a car was extremely impractical, since neither the driver nor the passenger could use it. But often it is he who is called the very first car, the photo of which has not been preserved, but there is only an engraving.
But many people liked the idea of steam transport and began to develop already in the 18th century. Cugno came up with an experimental artillery tractor, but not everyone liked this option.
In the UK, they also tried to engage in the auto industry, so in 1784 William Murdoch's steam carriage became famous. Richard Trevithick apparently decided to bring the steam locomotive to the roads, so in 1801 he introduced the "Snoring Devil" - a road locomotive. All this helped the inventors to create a handbrake, transmission, steering.
Such a rapid development of transport in the UK frightened ordinary residents and the country's authorities proposed to introduce a law that required an assistant on the road. Such a person had to walk in front of the car, wave a red flag and give signals so that pedestrians immediately understood the approach of a car. All this reduced the interest of inventors in this area. Many went to work on railway locomotives.
Meanwhile, the US was also worried about the creation of the very first car. Here Oliver Evans presented the first car in America,which also turned out to be an amphibious vehicle. The invention allowed passengers to travel by land and water.
With electricity
A little later, the very first electric cars began to appear. The first in this case was the Hungarian Jedlik Anjos, who in 1828 introduced the world to an electric motor. To show his work, the engineer had to create a small car as a prototype.
So, at first, inventors around the world showed only miniature models of cars, but already in 1838, Robert Davidson introduced an electric locomotive. After 2 years, it was decided to patent the tracks, which turned out to be a conductor of electric current.
Fuel use
No wonder inventors around the world have been trying to find the perfect transportation solution that doesn't require large supplies of coal or rails. This is how engineers came up with the internal combustion engine. The problem arose only with the use of suitable fuel, which would have come to replace the gas mixture.
So many inventors have experimented with different fuels and uses of technology, but the very first gasoline-powered car in the world was introduced by Karl Benz. This is how the Benz Patent-Motorwagen model became known. The prototype was so successful that the engineer began producing cars in 1886.
Now it is difficult to say whether Benz was an inspiration for someone, but already in 1889 Daimler and Maybach developed a completely new invention, which alreadyit didn't look like a horse-drawn carriage. Around the same time, engineers were also working on the world's first motorcycle, the Daimler Petroleum Reitwagen.
Many discoveries and enthusiasts have been forgotten. There is evidence that the first four-wheeled car in Britain appeared in 1895. It ran on gasoline and thanks to Frederick Lanchester, who incidentally patented the disc brake.
Benz Patent-Motorwagen
This particular model, perhaps, can be called the very first car in the world, the photo of which is presented below. In fact, it was the first vehicle with an internal combustion engine, whose father was Karl Benz. Its peculiarity is that it became the first commercially available vehicle.
Now it has a lot in common with modern prototypes. For example, it also had a chassis, a gasoline engine, electric ignition, a carburetor, a cooling system, a brake mechanism, and a transmission.
There is information that Karl Benz faced a number of problems that did not allow him to bring the matter to its logical end. He couldn't solve the steering issue, so he developed a three-wheeled model.
But literally five years later he managed to find or peep a solution. This is how the Benz Victoria became known to the world - a car with four wheels and a carriage type. He just replaced the previous model, became commercially successful and was produced for 7 years.
Production start
Before the very first stampthere were few cars left. When the engineers finally chose the most optimal transport option, they threw all their efforts into mass production.
The first in this area was again Karl Benz in 1888. At the same time, Rudolf Egg was engaged in the production of tricycles. Mass production has been launched in the US and France.
The French were the first to take the path of the automotive industry. They founded the company "Panard and Levassor" in 1889, which was engaged in the production of cars. Two years later, the world heard about Peugeot.
The beginning of the 20th century for Europe turned into an active development of the automotive industry. But until 1903 France was the leader. The USA had its own heroes. The Duryea Motor Wagon Company was founded in 1893. Behind them, the Olds Motor Vehicle Company stepped up. By 1902, Cadillac, Vinton and Ford were becoming popular.
Despite the fact that the world's automobile production grew exponentially, in fact, everything converged to the fact that the car was a luxury item and a novelty in fashion. While it could not yet become a useful invention. This was due to the fact that the cost of cars was extremely high, and breakdowns were very common. And the fuel was not so easy to get.
Towards modernity
Cars have come a long way to become what we see them today. It was necessary to conduct a series of experiments, after plunging into vintage and surviving the pre-war era.
The Second World War had a great impact on the auto industry. The world saw a pontoon-type body, which lost its protruding wings, huge headlights and steps. The very first car in the world, which was produced in large series, was the Soviet GAZ-M-20 Pobeda.
After that, the engineers stopped working on frilly shapes and special needs. They delved into the development of more powerful engines and higher speeds.
