WILHELM GOTTLIEB DAIMLER (1834-1900)

1885 – Germany

Daimler was convinced that steam power was outdated. In 1885 he perfected the first petroleum-injected internal combustion engine and produced the first motorcycle and the first four-wheeled petrol driven car.

The foundation for Daimler’s work had already been laid in the creation of two and four-stroke gas-fuelled internal combustion engines by early pioneers Joseph Etienne Lenoir (1822-1900), Alphonse Beau de Rochas (1815-93) and Nikolaus August Otto (1832-91).

Although liquid petroleum was well-known, it had been of no use in developing the internal combustion engine because the liquid could not be compressed in the same manner as gas. The four-stroke engine awaited the development of the carburetor, which converted the liquid petroleum into a thin spray, which could be compressed and sparked.

 

DAIMLER & BENZ

In 1885 Karl Benz (1844-1929) designed and constructed a three-wheel vehicle powered by a 0.75 horsepower engine.

TIMELINE

THE ENGINE