Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot's Heavy Steam Machine

How the horseless carriage conquered the world

Chapter 1

The spark of early invention

Chapter 2

Mass production and the everyday car

Chapter 3

Designing the dream

Chapter 4

The road ahead

YOUR GOAL

Master of How the horseless carriage conquered the world

Ch 1 · The spark of early invention

audi Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot designed a massive steam-powered military vehicle.

audi Early Automobile Inventions

We got the spark plug to fire the motor! (Fire it up!) An eighty-six patent is rolling over! (Oh-oh, roll away!)

The world's first speeding ticket was for driving 8 mph in a 2 mph zone.

audi Inventors designed streamlined steam cars to dominate early land speed racing.

The quiet reign of early electric cabs

audi An early electric Hummingbird cab from the London Electrical Cab Company.

Bertha Benz's historic road trip

audi Bertha Benz drives the Patent Motorwagen along a dirt road in a luminous fresco.

Crank, Spark, Go!

BETA

audi Time the crank and spark to discover how early automobiles came to life.

Fun Fact

First speeding ticket: In 1896, British driver Walter Arnold received the world's first speeding ticket for driving 8 mph in a 2 mph zone.

Glossary

internal combustion engine (noun)
An engine that generates motive power by burning fuel with air inside it. In 1860, Etienne Lenoir patented the first commercial version, utilizing an electric spark to ignite gas.

Gossip

Which classic fuel source would you test drive today?

Quiz

Where did Bertha Benz drive in 1888 for the first long-distance road trip?

audi Bertha Benz drove the Patent-Motorwagen on a historic long-distance road trip

Quiz

What fuel powered the rocket-shaped car that set a land speed record of 127.6 mph in 1906?

Quiz

What did Bertha Benz use to clear a clogged fuel line on her historic 1888 drive?

Quiz

What nickname was given to the silent electric taxis in London in 1897?

Quiz

Who drove the record-breaking Stanley Steamer rocket car in Florida in 1906?

Quiz

Around the year 1900, what proportion of cars on United States roads were electric?

Quiz

Who built the world's first self-propelled steam vehicle in 1769?

Quiz

What material did Bertha Benz ask a shoemaker to use to improve her car's brakes in 1888?