Description
The German engine designer and automotive engineer Karl Friedrich Benz is widely regarded as the first person to have patented a vehicle powered by a gas engine in 1886. However, in reality the honour goes to French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, who built the first ever steam-powered automobile in 1769. By the 1830s steam cars were being manufactured in significant numbers and becoming a regular sight on the streets of America as well Britain, although in lesser numbers. A century later steam car production really reached its peak. The first ever motorcycle was built a year before Karl Benz patented his automobile at Bad Canstatt by German inventors Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. At same time steam cars were making their debut, the earliest crude form of electric automobiles were being produced in small numbers. This increased during the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was after Karl Benz had patented his gas-powered vehicle in 1886, however, that internal combustion and liquid petroleum-fuelled engines really began to take off. Under Lord Palmerston’s Liberal government the Locomotive Act 1865 (or Red Flag Act) was passed which stipulated speed limits of 4 mph in the country and 2 mph in towns. The Act was repelled in 1896 and the speed limit was raised to 14 mph. This led to ‘The Emancipation Run’, with motorists travelling from London to Brighton with a red flag ripped apart before the start. This event still takes places every year and is now known as ‘The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run’. Royston Morris gives a comprehensive overview of the earliest cars and motorcycles through a wealth of fascinating images and informative captions.