On January 29, 1886, Karl Benz filed a Patent No. 37435 at the Reich Patent Office in Berlin – it is generally regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile and became the first of over 80,000 patents to the Mercedes Benz marque. Benz’ Patent Motor Car was equipped with a horizontal single-cylinder four-stroke engine, which developed an output of 0.55 kW at 400 rpm from a displacement of 954 cubic centimetres. The vehicle’s top speed was 16 km/h. Happy birthday to the automobile and congratulations to the company which today remains at the forefront of personal transportation. Extensive detailed imagesed with a horizontal single-cylinder four-stroke engine, which developed an output of 0.55 kW at 400 rpm from a displacement of 954 cubic centimetres. The vehicle’s top speed was 16 km/h. Happy birthday to the automobile and congratulations to the company which today remains at the forefront of personal transportation.
The birth certificate of the automobile was issued 125 years ago today
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The birth certificate of the automobile was issued 125 years ago today

Hero image - German Patent No. 37435 was applied for by Karl Benz on January 29, 1886
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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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A one litre motor and a top speed of just 16 km/h

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The very first motor car

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German Patent No. 37435 was awarded to Karl Benz on January 29, 1886

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German Patent No. 37435 was awarded to Karl Benz on January 29, 1886

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The very first motor car

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German Patent No. 37435 was awarded to Karl Benz on January 29, 1886

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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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German Patent No. 37435 was awarded to Karl Benz on January 29, 1886 - the vehicle pictured here is the subsequent iteration built two years later

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German Patent No. 37435 was awarded to Karl Benz on January 29, 1886 - the vehicle pictured here is the subsequent iteration built two years later

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The original patent machine in action at the Frankfurt Motor Show

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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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That's the man himself on the left

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The original patent machine in action at the Frankfurt Motor Show

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German Patent No. 37435 was first filed by Karl Benz on January 29, 1886

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That's some flywheel

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The original patent machine in action at the Frankfurt Motor Show

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Demonstration models of the patented motor car are regularly fielded by Mercedes Benz

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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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The very first motor car

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Hero image - German Patent No. 37435 was applied for by Karl Benz on January 29, 1886

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The Benz workshop circa 1896

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Depending on your definition of motor car, this is arguably also the first - it completed

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Daimler was the first with a four-wheeled motor vehicle, a carriage chassis in which he had integrated the combustion engine that had proved so effective in the riding car

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Daimler's four-wheeled motor vehicle was first shown in 1886

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Daimler's four-wheeled motor vehicle was first shown in 1886

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Daimler's four-wheeled motor vehicle was first shown in 1886

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the 1885 Daimler-Maybach Reitwagen

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Daimler applied for a patent for his riding car with “gas or petroleum engine,†as it was described in the patent specification, on 29 August 1885. German Patent No. DRP 36423 was awarded on 11 August 1886.

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Daimler's four-wheeled motor vehicle was first shown in 1886

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