However, Karl Benz is generally credited with building the first practical gasoline-powered automobile in 1886. His Benz Patent Motorwagen is widely recognized as the first car to be commercially produced and used.
While other inventors were working on similar concepts around the same time, Benz's car was the first to be successful, reliable, and commercially viable.
Here's a quick timeline of key inventors and events leading to the gasoline-powered car:
* 1860s: Étienne Lenoir built a gas-powered engine that could power a vehicle, but it was inefficient and impractical.
* 1870s: Siegfried Marcus created a vehicle with a gasoline engine, but it wasn't commercially successful.
* 1886: Karl Benz patented and produced the Benz Patent Motorwagen, a three-wheeled vehicle powered by a gasoline engine.
* 1888: Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach developed a four-wheeled car with a gasoline engine.
While both Benz and Daimler were pioneers in the field, it's generally accepted that Benz's invention was the first to be commercially successful, making him the most widely recognized inventor of the gasoline-powered car.
