Andy Warhol

Benz Patent-Motorwagen (1886), 1986

In 1886, the engineer Carl Benz from Mannheim (1844-1929) applied for a patent for the first automobile with a petrol motor. Himself a cyclist, Benz used standard components from cycle construction for the construction of his three-wheeled powered vehicle. He obtained some of the parts directly from the Adler company, a well-known cycle manufacturer. The construction system had the advantage of being lightweight. The vehicle’s key component was the fast-running single cylinder motor with a carburettor that ran on liquid fuel – on petrol. Today, the Benz patent automobile can be seen as an innovation that formed the basis for a whole transport system. However, it initially attracted little attention from contemporaries in 1886, as a market for automobiles did not yet exist. Karl Benz advertised his patent motorised vehicle – the world’s first automobile – under the slogan: “a replacement for the horse”. The motorised vehicle was powered by a horizontally installed single-cylinder petrol motor. As Benz had not yet designed a satisfactory steering system, he made his vehicle a three-wheeled construction with a swivelling front wheel.