(Image: TFL Studios) This is what most folks consider to be the world\u2019s first car. <\/p>\n
In today\u2019s TFLclassics video, we have something a little unorthodox for you: a shipping crate. In fairness, sitting inside that crate is the oldest car we\u2019ve ever had in the TFL fleet \u2014 and a reproduction of one of the original cars in existence. If you know your history, you\u2019ll know We\u2019re talking about the 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen (and it helps that the guys painted \u201cBenz 1886\u201d on the crate).<\/p>\n
Now, while you might argue the Ford Model T, with its iconic status as the world\u2019s first mass-affordable car, is the proper genesis of the automotive history we all hold dear to this day. That said, Carl Benz patented the first internal combustion automobile designed to move under its own power in January 1886, and that\u2019s what we have an example of here. <\/p>\n
A couple years later, in August 1888, Carl\u2019s wife Bertha Benz embarked on the first road trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany, stopping at pharmacies along the way to refuel. Not only did this car predate modern roads, but it also came before the modern notion of the purpose-built \u201cgas station\u201d, which started cropping up around the turn of the century, after pharmacies sold fuel as a side business in the time of Bertha Benz\u2019s 65-mile journey.<\/p>\n
Naturally, the car industry has moved on leaps and bounds since then. You can get a small example of what I mean about operating the world\u2019s first car below:<\/p>\n
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This is just the first video in a full series on the Benz, though this one covers the most basic element of owning the first car, which is getting it going in the first place and taking it for a (terrifying) drive. <\/p>\n