The first automotive vehicles were run by steam, electricity, gas and petrol. In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz created the combustion engine. The Benz car model was equipped with an accelerator pedal, a sparking plug, a clutch, water cooling and a radiator.
In 1888, Bertha Benz went on the first long-distance drive from Mannheim to Pforzheim to draw attention to the Patent Motor Car. The objective was to replace expensive horse keeping and dependent carriage with more economical vehicles for private use. Nevertheless, in that period, cars remained a toy of eccentric avant-gardists and pioneers who were enthusiastic about technology.
The Patent Motor Car had just three wheels and was called motor velocipede. In 1901, Wilhelm Maybach and Paul Daimler presented the Mercedes 35 HP which is considered the first modern car. The passengers were sitting behind the four-cylinder engine. The French company De Dion-Bouton and the American company Oldsmobile sold more than 2000 vehicles each in 1902.
