Automobiles are vehicles with wheels, which are used primarily to transport people. Most definitions say that cars run on roads, have four wheels, and seat one to eight people. However, there is more to cars than meets the eye. Read on to find out more about the different types of automobiles and their inventors.
Benz’s inventions
The automobile was a revolutionary invention, and Karl Benz is credited with inventing the internal combustion engine, the modern car’s central part. Benz’s inventions also included the carburetor, the water radiator, the gear shift, the clutch, and the battery-sparked ignition. His work was instrumental in the founding of Mercedes-Benz.
Benz’s early years were not easy. His mother had to raise his family on a meager income. As a teenager, he took the entrance exam for a school for mechanical engineering. While at school, he took classes taught by Professor Ferdinand Redtenbacher, who was an innovator of scientific mechanical engineering. He also met Emil Skoda, who later founded Skoda Works. Benz then worked as a mechanic at the Engine Construction Company in Karlsruhe. During this time, he was also sketching ideas for a horseless carriage.
Benz’s patents
Karl Benz’s patents in automobiles were important for the development of motorized transportation. On January 29, 1886, he filed a patent application for a motorized vehicle in the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin. This patent became the birth certificate of the automobile. This invention changed the way people move and changed individual mobility around the world.
By 1886, Benz had a prototype ready for testing. The first trial ended in a crash into a brick wall, but repairs were quick. Benz made numerous improvements to the automobile and soon had it capable of driving more than a half-mile at seven and a half mph. In July, local newspapers reported the Benz Motorwagen, and a month later Benz had a patent for the automobile.
Benz’s design
The Mercedes-Benz design idiom emphasizes modern luxury and sensual purity. It features sharp outlines, smooth surfaces and high-tech elements, while at the same time expressing tradition and emotion. Benz’s design philosophy combines avant-garde and modern aesthetics to create a vehicle with timeless appeal.
Gorden Wagener, the company’s chief design officer, is a native of Essen, Germany. He was appointed as the company’s chief design officer in 2016 and joined the board of directors in the same year. In 2009, he was awarded the honorary title of Professor Honoris Causa by the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest, and in 2010 he received an honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Sofia. In 2017, he was awarded the American Prize for Design. In addition, his work has won Good Design by the Chicago Athenaeum.