And his wife carried out the first marketing action in the automotive industry.
Carl Benz was friends with a guy in Decatur, IL (at least acquaintances).
According to what I heard, if there had not been a tragic accident that took that guy’s life, Decatur would have been Motor City instead of Detroit.
Detroit already had an large edge in manufacturing over many other cities. The equipment and skilled workers were already here. Also, it’s a port city which makes other things like shipping material in and product out much easier.
The access to water transport via the Great Lakes helped, but I think having Ford, Chrysler, and other gearhead giants helped more.
Decatur, IL probably had easy access to the growing train transportation system so that would have helped.
The Benz was a commercial success and they have kept that momentum going for an awfully long time. An unparalleled record.
Not the first car though, despite Mercedes Benz shouting that for a long time.
About 60 years earlier Samuel Brown (the engineer that invented the screw propeller) created a 4-horsepower hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion engine, fitted it to a carriage and demonstrated it publicly. “Seven people sat on the shafts and it ‘appeared to make no difference to the motion’.”
On 27 May 1826 as widely reported at the time, it was successfully driven up Shooter’s Hill in London. At 433 feet the hill is one of the highest Hills in London, and it is steep. As late as the 1950s some cars of that era struggled to climb the hill, so they rerouted the road to make it less steep.
And his wife carried out the first marketing action in the automotive industry.
Carl Benz was friends with a guy in Decatur, IL (at least acquaintances).
According to what I heard, if there had not been a tragic accident that took that guy’s life, Decatur would have been Motor City instead of Detroit.
Detroit already had an large edge in manufacturing over many other cities. The equipment and skilled workers were already here. Also, it’s a port city which makes other things like shipping material in and product out much easier.
The access to water transport via the Great Lakes helped, but I think having Ford, Chrysler, and other gearhead giants helped more.
Decatur, IL probably had easy access to the growing train transportation system so that would have helped.
The Benz was a commercial success and they have kept that momentum going for an awfully long time. An unparalleled record.
Not the first car though, despite Mercedes Benz shouting that for a long time.
About 60 years earlier Samuel Brown (the engineer that invented the screw propeller) created a 4-horsepower hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion engine, fitted it to a carriage and demonstrated it publicly. “Seven people sat on the shafts and it ‘appeared to make no difference to the motion’.”
On 27 May 1826 as widely reported at the time, it was successfully driven up Shooter’s Hill in London. At 433 feet the hill is one of the highest Hills in London, and it is steep. As late as the 1950s some cars of that era struggled to climb the hill, so they rerouted the road to make it less steep.