Because there are moments in history that are worth remembering, we remember who invented the car and also who first drove it. The deserved tribute comes through a short video that recalls the adventure carried out by Bertha Benz, at the end of the century. XIX, more precisely in August of 1888.
The wife of Karl Benz, the inventor of the first automobile called Motorwagen, decided to show her husband the validity of the concept her husband had invented, at her own risk and expense. The Benz family had already invested a lot of money in the “car”, the first in the world. In Bertha's understanding, her husband's car could be a huge commercial success.
Say yes to the unknown.
Unbeknownst to her husband and with the vehicle still to be legalized, Bertha Benz decided to undertake a journey behind the wheel of the Motorwagen Model III. From Mannheim to Pforzheim (Germany) she traveled 106 kilometers — the first longest journey ever made in an automobile.
The challenge was anything but easy. Bertha Benz faced several problems along the trip and only her ingenuity allowed her, for example, to make one of her alloys with which she fastened her socks, an insulation solution, or to use her hairpin to unclog. the fuel tube.
Accompanied by their children Richard, 13, and Eugene, 15, Karl Benz's wife carried out the first refueling in the history of the Automobile, when, while passing through the city of Wiesloch, she had to buy more fuel from a local chemist. Something that also made this the first fuel station in history.
Low on power and overheating with effort, the engine of the Motorwagen Model III also had to be constantly cooled with water during the journey, with Richard and Eugene having to push the vehicle up the steepest slopes.
Even so, and according to history, Bertha Benz and her children even managed to reach Pforzheim, from where Karl Benz's wife sent a telegram, telling her husband the success of the initiative. After a few days in that German city, Bertha Benz returned to Mannheim, in the same Motorwagen Model III, thus starting an “adventure” that has been going on for over 100 years.
Diogo, told us this story in the test he made to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class 560 Cabriolet, see: