Mannheim, Germany. On the morning of August 5, 1888, behind the steering crank (the steering wheel would not be invented until six years later), Bertha Benz set off on what would become the first road trip. The journey, which propelled the burgeoning automobile industry to fame, was probably the first advertising stunt in history! In addition to her resourcefulness, Bertha, then 39 years old, possessed the technical skills and knew how to drive. Not only did she contribute financially to the project by investing her entire dowry, but she also participated in its design.
So it was at dawn, without a permit from the local authorities and without her husband’s knowledge, that Bertha, accompanied by her two teenage children Richard and Eugene, sneaked the Motorwagen Model III out of the workshop. The prototype, inspired by the bicycle, was a hybrid between a large tricycle and a carriage, powered by an internal combustion engine. With her sons, she pushes it far enough to start the machine without fear of waking the man of the house. Her excuse was to visit her mother who lives 104 km away in Pforzheim, the equivalent of the distance between Montréal and Plattsburgh. But her real goal was to prove to her husband that his invention was viable.
A Journey Full of Pitfalls and Challenges!
Nowadays, covering 104 km is nothing impressive, but at the time, covering such a distance on dirt roads was practically a feat, and Bertha knew from the start that she would have three problems to deal with.
- The water tank used to cool the engine had to be refilled because of evaporation. On several occasions, the trio was forced to make pit stops in order to refill the reservoir.
- As for the gas tank located in the carburetor, it only contains 4.5 L. With an estimated average consumption of 10 L/100 km, refuelling along the way is essential to reach the destination. Service stations did not yet exist. The Motorwagen ran on ligroin, a petroleum derivative used as a solvent and sold at the apothecary, the pharmacy of the time. It was in the village of Wiesloch that Bertha stopped to “refuel”. Little did the owner of the establishment know that thanks to this woman, his business, which still exists today, would become the first gas station in the world.
- Equipped with a single-cylinder engine that produced a meager 2.5 HP (the equivalent of a small motorboat engine) and two gears, the Motorwagen, which weighed 360 kg, needed to be pushed to climb hills.
Necessity, Mother of Invention
But after the climbs came the descents. Bertha had not foreseen that the wooden brakes would wear out quickly… To fix this issue, she stopped at a shoemaker to have leather soles made and installed them on the brakes, before the stunned eyes of the villagers. This is how she invented brake pads! When the chain that drives the wheels breaks, she asked a blacksmith to repair it. To unblock a fuel line, she uses her hat pin and after a short circuit, she insulates an ignition wire with her garter. Tricks that only a woman would think of! I would be curious to know what solutions the gentlemen of the time would have found!
After 12 hours on the run at an average speed of 12 km/h, the trio arrived at their destination at sunset. Instead of taking the same route back three days later, Bertha chose a different one, in order to make the most of the adventure and to amaze even more villagers along the way. In those days when the horse reigned supreme, ordinary people were skeptical about the reliability of a noisy machine propelled by a mysterious force.
Testing in the Field
Her 194 km round trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim in the Motorwagen made her the first person to drive a car on a significant distance, in addition to making the headlines and generating a lot of conversations. More than an endurance test, the success of this family ride demonstrated that the invention was viable and safe. Bertha’s initiative confirms the importance of experimenting in the field. Her real-life test identified the vehicle’s flaws and weaknesses and led to improvements such as insulating the wires, adding brake pads and a low gear to make climbing hills easier.
The adventure marks the transition from an industrially manufactured machine, the combustion engine, to a domestic consumer item. Following Bertha’s journey, Mr. Benz’s order book filled up. The Motorwagen Model III was the first automobile to be produced in multiple units. By the turn of the century, Benz & Cie, which in 1926 became Mercedes-Benz, was the largest car maker in the world.
Bertha’s legacy
The Bertha Benz Memorial Road, which traces her journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back, has been part of the European Routes of Industrial Heritage since 2009. It was on this same road, 125 years later, in August 2013, that Mercedes-Benz tested a vehicle in fully autonomous mode for the first time, with its S-Class S500 intelligent drive model. Even today, it serves as an experimenting ground for the mobility of the future.
Karl may have been the father of the automobile, but Bertha was the one who brought her to life!
