First Automobile Powered by the Internal Combustion Engine (1886)

This photograph shows Karl Benz’s (1844-1929) Patent-Motorwagen, or Patent Motorcar, the first automobile powered by a gasoline-fueled internal combustion engine. Introduced to the German public in July 1886 in Mannheim, it featured a single-cylinder, four-stroke, rear-mounted engine;  a comfortable, three-wheeled chassis; wooden paneling; rack and pinion steering; and solid rubber tires of Benz’s own design. Later models traveled up to ten miles per hour. Benz began selling the car in 1888, making it the first commercially available automobile in history.