Inventors. Manufacturers, and nations vied with one another, claiming to be first. Others consider Carl Benz's 1885 hp tricycle, patent DRP 37435 of January 29, 1886, to be the first true automobile: it’s combustion engine (by contrast with electric and steam engines) and was entirely designed for this purpose.
See the Historical Corner of the EAEC Newsletter no. 2, 2010, for a comparison these two rivals. |
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The famous 1900 Lohner-Porsche , nicknamed la Toujours Contente , initially used two-wheel drive. It later became a four-wheel drive vehicle to improve performance on slopes given that it had a 1.8 ton lead battery. A thermal engine was later added to increase autonomy. This was the first hybrid series automobile. Adding a hub motor simplified the transmission and resolved the problem of compatibility with the suspension. |
We can find here a US 4WD history in the 20th century first years. |
Starting from 1896, Arthur Krebs invented and patended mainly as general manager at Panhard-Levassor many vital devices:
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the famous "la Jamais Contente", first car at 100 km/h in 1901, rear live axle with two electric motors, reconstituated by Venturi at Mondial 2010. | |
30 passengers with two horses, and 40 with 3, nice energetical performances for the Paris tram around 1905. | |
In 1907, Pierre Souvestre wrote a magnificent 800-page History of the Automobile. |