Karl Benz was born on 25th November 1844 in Karlsruhe, the son of an engine driver. The middle of the last century, when Benz was an apprentice, was a time of widespread fascination with the"new technology". The first railway line in Germany from Nuremberg to Furth had been opened in 1835, only twenty years before, and in the space of just a few decades the railways, steamships and new production processes had ushered in a new era in technology, industry and everyday life. Karl Benz attended the Karlsruhe grammar school and subsequently the Karlsruhe Polytechnic. Between 1864 and 1870, he worked for a number of different firms as a draughtsman, designer and works manager before founding his first firm in 1871 in Mannheim, with August Ritter. But little money was to be made in the building materials trade and the economic convulsions of the 1870's caused difficulties for the young company. Karl Benz now turned to the two-stroke engine, in the hope of finding a new livelihood. After two years' work, his first engine finally sprang to life on NewYear's Eve, 1879. He took out various patents on this machine.

Equally important were the contacts with new business associates, with whose assistance Benz founded a gas engine factory in Mannheim. But after only a short time he withdrew from this company since it did not give him a free enough hand for his technical experiments. Benz found two new partners and with them founded "Benz & Co., Rheinische Gasmotorenfabrik" in 1883 in Mannheim, a general partnership. Business was good and soon the production of industrial engines was being stepped up

With this new financial security, Karl Benz could now set about designing a "motor carriage", with an engine based on the Otto fourstroke cycle. Unlike Daimler, who installed his engine in an ordinary carriage, Benz designed not only his engine, but the whole vehicle as well. On 29th January 1886, he was granted a patent on it and on 3rd July 1886, he introduced the first automobile in the world to an astonished public. In 1903, Karl Benz retired from active participation in his company. The next year however, he joined the supervisory board of Benz & Cie and he was a member of the supervisory board of Daimler-Benz AG from 1926, when the company was formed, until his death in 1929. In 1872, Karl Benz married Bertha Ringer, who was to be of major support to him in his work. The couple produced five children. Benz lived to witness the motoring boom and the definitive penetration of his idea in to everyday life. He died on 4th April 1929. The former Benz family residence in Ladenburg is now open to the public.The Daimler-Benz foundation, founded in 1986, has its registered office here.

In the late 1880s, Karl Benz put together the works of some creative engine designers, himself included, bicycle mechanics, and drivetrain innovators; elements, that when properly combined, would change the course of history.
The horseless carriage was a dream that had existed throughout the ages, as far back as Leonardo da Vinci, in his Codice Atlantico. The closest thing to a surrey that could actually move under its own power dates back to 1769 and the Cugnot Carriage, a massive three-wheeled wagon powered by a steam engine. A train for two.
As a viable concept, the development of the automobile as a means of personal transportation can be traced to 1885 when Karl Benz opened the doors of his Mannheim workshop and rode around the yard in a three-wheeled carriage powered by a single-cylinder internal-combustion engine.
On January 29, 1886, Benz was granted German patent number 37435 for his invention - the Patent-Motorwagen - recognized today as the first automobile. Had he waited just a little longer, Benz would have had to share that distinction with Gottlieb Daimler.

Karl Benz grew up in an era when few ordinary people ventured far from their hometown. Mass transport, when it finally came to be, was the steam locomotive. Personal transportation was powered by hay, and luxury meant a coach-built carriage. To the average person, the concept of driving, let alone owning a car must have seemed as unlikely in the 1880s as it is to us that someday we might pilot cars that fly above city streets.

Though we celebrate the introduction of the motorcar in 1886 as a turning point in modern civilization, the automobile was not simply and suddenly invented. Although Benz started it all, he did not single-handedly put the world on wheels. More importantly, the Patent-Motorwagen showed what was possible.

Why did Benz choose three wheels instead of four as Daimler used for his Motorwagen? The answer is that Benz did not use the horse-drawn carriage as a basis for his car. Instead, he departed far from it. His tricycle configuration appeared more logical, less complicated, lighter, and easier to steer. This theory reigned until Benz designed the four-wheeled Viktoria, which appeared in 1892.
The Patent-Motorwagen was powered by a water-cooled, single-cylinder, horizontal engine. The piston and cylinder were oriented fore and aft, and displacement was 954cc(58ci). Output was about 0.75hp at 400rpm, sufficient to propel the three-wheeler at speeds up to 10mph. The exposed connecting rod and crankshaft drove an attractively sculpted flywheel beneath the engine and a simple transmission above.

From here power went via belt to a rudimentary differential, then to both wheels by chain. The driver started the engine by spinning the flywheel by hand. Ignition was by coil and battery, and Benz had to invent his own spark plug. Fuel flow was adjusted by a knurled handle beneath the driver's seat, while brakes were controlled by a large lever to the driver's left. Benz made several design improvements before putting the three-wheeler into production in 1888, but the basic layout prevailed during its four years of manufacture. It is estimated that about twenty-five were made.

Throughout the 1890s Benz & Cie. produced a variety of four-wheeled models. The very first four-wheeler, the Viktoria, resembled Daimler's first models. In 1893, Benz added the Velo, which was somewhat smaller and less powerful, what history might consider the world's first compact car. In 1898, Benz added the Ideal.

One interesting point about motoring in the era was the cost of an automobile. The Viktoria, for example, sold for $4,500 in the mid-1890s! In 1895, the company produced and sold 134 automobiles, but Benz was falling behind the competition. By 1901, Daimler's new Mercedes models were establishing design and performance marks that Karl Benz refused to even acknowledge. A renaissance at Benz & Cie. in the 1900s at last brought these two great companies into direct competition, helping to define the emerging automotive market of the twentieth century.