The Benz Patent-Motorwagen („patent motorcar“), built in 1885 by the German engineer Karl Benz, is widely regarded as the first practical automobile and was the first car put into production. It was patented in January 1886 and unveiled in public later that year. The original cost of the vehicle was 600 imperial German marks, approximately 150 US dollars (equivalent to $5,200 in 2024). Two years after Karl Benz drove the car in public in July 1886, Karl’s wife Bertha demonstrated its feasibility in a trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim in August 1888. Around the same time, the Patent-Motorwagen became the first commercially available automobile in history.[11] Émile Roger, who made Benz engines under license in France, was one of the first persons to buy Benz‘ car; from 1888, Roger was also the salesperson of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen in France, selling one to Émile Levassor in 1888. The Patent-Motorwagen was shown at an exhibition in Munich in 1888, winning a gold medal, and at the 1889 Paris Exposition. Due to the creation of the Patent-Motorwagen, Karl Benz has been hailed as the father and inventor of the automobile. We celebrate this remarkable feat with an image of a typical Mercedes Benz car …
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