Cars are, or at least were, one of the more indispensable things of our daily lives. They take us from place to place, whether it's to your nearby grocery store or a trip across the country. In fact, we can thank these automobiles for the way we live today, as they shaped the modern cities and paved roads! But have you ever wondered how it all started?

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It was the year 1876. Horses and bullocks ruled the roads and it was a really outdated method of transportation with an alternate mean long overdue. Inventors were envisioning a future automobile which did not rely on bullocks, horses or not even a living thing. With the recent invention of the steam engine, inventors' new pursuit was to fit one into a carriage.

The invention

Mr. Karl Benz was one of these inventors trying to build a self-powered car, and he had the talent and determination to do it. In 1873, he had successfully built a working 2-stroke internal combustion engine which ran on gasoline and could potentially power the car. Furthermore, he built a completely custom chassis designed around the engine he had built. Plus, the car also required entirely new suspension systems brakes and steering, and he built them all. Within a few years, Benz had fitted the engine in the special chassis which gave it the ability to move by powering the wheels. The Benz Patent-Motorwagen was born.

The commercial struggle

Mr. Karl Benz had performed many demonstrations to the public nearby using his working prototype, showcasing the brilliance of this new invention and how it could change the world, but it did not work. People just could not understand the issue with horses and were also skeptical about the Patent-Motorwagen; Mr. Benz had faced a small accident in it while a demonstration which raised many eyebrows on its safety.

The advert

Now is when Mrs. Bertha benz enters the scene. Wife and financial supporter of Mr. Karl Benz, was not happy with the response of the public and the inevitable commercial failure of the Motorwagen. She decided she had to do something about it, such that more people will know about the invention and also understand its advantages.

One morning, when Mr. Benz wasn't around, Bertha took out the car and along with her two sons, set out to her mother's house, a hundred miles away! Her journey wasn't uneventful though, with numerous challenges she needed to overcome to complete it. The small 4.5L fuel tank soon ran out of gasoline thanks to the very fuel-hungry motor and she replaced it with a different organic solvent she bought nearby. Later, the ignition plug had come loose, and she had to use a piece of cloth to secure it. Driving along the windy roads, the brakes soon started to fail due to excessive wear. But with her quick-wittedness she hired a cobbler to nail leather strips to the brake shoes, effectively inventing the first lined brake-pads. Likewise, she fixed the numerous more breakdowns using her knowledge from absorbing when Mr. Benz was building the car.

After a whole day of driving (and breakdowns), the family finally reached their hometown. It was the first ever automobile road trip! After a few days they returned back home, now with an enormous amount of publicity for the Patent-Motorwagen.

After that, it was uphill for the Mercedes-Benz motor company and also the beginning a great social transformation that changed transportation forever and shrunk the Earth. So that's how the brilliant invention of Mr. Karl Benz and more importantly, the courageous act of Mrs. Bertha Benz changed the world.

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Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rADxKCBcb3Q,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benz_Patent-Motorwagen