The title of the World's First Viable The boys had no trouble firing Automobile is generally conceded it up and mastering the rudi- to belong to Karl Benz's Patent mentary controls, so they Motorwagen of 1886. were off. Apparently, StarTuned's editor actually Bertha's notion of the had the chance to experi- country roads that led ence driving a replica of out of Mannheim was- this engineering land- n't very precise, so mark built from the their route was cir- original prints, cuitous at best. This thanks to added distance meant Mercedes-Benz and that the five-liter fuel Hemmings Motor tank was woefully News. Sitting way up inadequate, and Frau high on a not-so-stable Benz had to stop at three-wheeled chassis several pharmacies to gave us a true apprecia- buy benzine. tion of the courage exhib- The cooling system was ited by Bertha Benz, the even more demanding inventor's wife and than the carburetor. mother of Since it their two wasn't pres- sons, when she surized, water took her simply famous ride. boiled off to It seems that Herr Benz didn't have iron- the tune of well over a liter per kilometer.which bound faith in his own creation, so had never necessitated numerous refillings at farms, driven it farther than about 20 km. There were wells and ponds along the way. other impediments such as frightened horses By evening, they hadn't quite made it to and outraged citizens. Frau Benz, however, Bertha's mother's house, so they stayed at a whom her husband later described as "fearless hotel. Meanwhile, Bertha was thoughtful and courageous," was unfazed by such con- enough to send Karl two telegrams during the cerns, and had great confidence in Karl's day to let him know that they were the ones achievement. Since her husband didn't seem who'd taken the car, and that they were safe. about to prove that it could withstand a long The somewhat mischievous trio returned to trip, and, by extension, that travel by automo- Mannheim within a few days, and the round bile was a practical proposition, she was deter- trip added up to an astonishing 180 km. One mined to prove it herself. can only wonder what Herr Benz's reaction So, one morning in August, 1888 she roused might have been when his wife burst in bearing their two sons, 15 year-old Eugen and 14 year- newspaper accounts of the excursion. Talk old Richard, out of bed while Karl was still about mixed emotions! She'd stolen his car, but asleep, and together they pushed the Model 3 she'd done it out of her faith in his work, and out of the shop and far enough down the street garnered publicity to boot. The boys were one so her husband wouldn't hear it start. As you thing -- teenagers are usually up for anything, might expect, the boys were deeply into the the riskier the better, and better yet if it details of their dad's contraption, so were pret- involves mobile machinery -- but what spurred ty good mechanics. Bertha left a note for Karl a demure German housewife to motor around saying that they'd gone to visit her mother, who the countryside on marginal roads at up to 12 lived in Pforzheim, but not mentioning that mph? Every man should have a wife who 27 they intended to do so in the Motorwagen. believes so strongly in him.