* Karl Benz's Patent-Motorwagen (1886): This is generally considered the first practical automobile. Benz built it in his workshop in Mannheim, Germany. "How" involved a single-cylinder, four-stroke internal combustion engine powering the rear wheels through a belt drive. It was a three-wheeled vehicle.
* Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach's contributions: While Benz is often credited with the first car, Daimler and Maybach independently developed high-speed internal combustion engines around the same time. They adapted their engines to carriages, creating vehicles that are also considered early automobiles. Their work was done in Germany as well.
It's crucial to understand that these early "cars" were very different from what we think of as cars today. They were crude, unreliable, and had limited capabilities. The "how" involved considerable experimentation and improvisation, with ongoing refinements in engine design, transmission, and chassis construction occurring for years afterward. The process wasn't a single event, but a series of breakthroughs in several locations.
