The Driving Woman

122 years ago on January 29th 1886 Karl Benz applied for a patent for his vehicle with gas engine operation. This date, according to Mercedes, is “widely considered to be the birthday of the automobile.”

Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart. We also made a trip to the Gottlieb Daimler Memorial—the greenhouse on the grounds of Gottlieb Daimler’s (as in Daimler-Benz or Daimler-Chrysler) home. This is where Gottlieb and Maybach worked 24/7 in absolute secrecy creating their first engine. 

Even Daimler’s family and staff didn't have a clue as to the goings on.  At one point a suspicious gardener contacted the police claiming that the greenhouse was a money-counterfeiting workshop. After they found only tools and engine components during a nighttime search, the inventors were left alone to work.

In 1885 they received a patent on an upright engine which they named  “grandfather clock “. It was a single –cylinder engine that was small enough to fit into a two-wheeler “riding car”.

Their first motorcycle produced in 1886 had a wooden riding saddle. This was also known as the first heated seat—yet only by default. The open flame of a Bunsen burner (part of the power system) was unfortunately positioned directly beneath the saddle. Story has it that Gottlieb Daimler  had to jump off several times while testing the two-wheeler.

In the summer of 1886 the pair mounted the engine into a horseless carriage and drove around town much to the shock of observers. People were so spooked by the technology that Daimler and Maybach decided to do future testing on the Neckar River. Thus, they mounted the motor in a boat and the Neckar became the first motorboat.

The first motor-driven buggy from 1888 was tested by the wife of Carl Benz. She packed up her two boys and left home for a day. When she needed to stop for gasoline she got it at the local pharmacy.

The Simplex, considered the first Mercedes, was built in 1901. Designed by Wilhelm Maybach it had 35hp and stood long and low to the ground. Emil Jellinek, an Austrian businessman, was instrumental in the development of the vehicle. When he commissioned this ‘sports car’ he exclaimed,” I don't want the car of today or the car of tomorrow, but the car of the day after tomorrow”. Jellinek bought a fleet of 36 and named them Mercedes (in Spanish this means "grace") after his young daughter.

And what did the car of tomorrow look like? Meticulously hand-painted buggies with details including built-in candleholders and bars, exquisite leather interiors with megaphones to talk with the drivers. Several ones had seats facing backwards (with footsteps to get into them) called “mother-in-law” seats.

122 years later and those candelabras are LED mini-lights, the bars are built in cup holders, the megaphones translate to  VCR’s and the seat facing backwards---well, how about the third row?