It turns out that there were actually two first automobiles! Independently of each other, two German engineers, Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, simultaneously built their self-propelled carriages.
The two remarkable inventors, Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, lived at the same time, in the same country, but never met. They each started their own company which produced automobiles.
In 1885 K. Benz drove his three-wheeled self-propelled carriage for the first time on the streets of Mannheim. The novelty did not arouse much interest among the residents. It was more likely to cause consternation and annoyance. The noise of the engine frightened the butcher's horse. The horse and the cart sped off without a break. All the goods were scattered in different directions. K. Benz had to buy 200 kg of scattered meat and roll his car into the garage for a long time. But then the inventor's wife, Berta Ringent, stepped in. Her relatives lived in a neighboring town. It was them that she and Benz's sons decided to drive to.
Early one summer morning, while the inventor himself was still asleep, the conspirators wheeled the car out of the garage. The eldest son got behind the wheel, his mother beside him, and the youngest son took the back seat with his luggage, fuel and tools. The car drove fine on a level road, but had to be pushed uphill. The wooden brake pads upholstered in leather could not withstand the descents. Several times the carriage stopped near the village shoemaker's shop to re-stuff the brake with leather. The village blacksmith had to repair a stretched bicycle chain. When the gas line clogged, Berta cleaned it with a hairpin and tied up the loose engine parts with a ribbon.
The trip lasted five days and was the first-ever motor rally. The whole of Germany soon learned about it.
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