Biography of Automobile Inventor Gottlieb Daimler

In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler (together with his design partner Wilhelm Maybach) took Nicolaus Ottos internal combustion engine a step further and patented what is generally recognized as the prototype of the modern gas engine. First Motorcycle Gottlieb Daimlers connection to Nicolaus Otto was a direct one; Daimler worked as technical director of Deutz Gasmotorenfabrik, which Nicolaus Otto co-owned in 1872. There is some controversy as to who built the first motorcycle, Nicolaus Otto or Gottlieb Daimler. The Worlds First Four-Wheeled Automobile The 1885 Daimler-Maybach engine was small, lightweight, fast, used a gasoline-injected carburetor, and had a vertical cylinder. The size, speed, and efficiency of the engine allowed for a revolution in car design. On March 8, 1886, Daimler took a stagecoach (made by Wilhelm Wimpff Sohn) and adapted it to hold his engine, thereby designing the worlds first four-wheeled automobile. In 1889, Gottlieb Daimler invented a V-slanted two cylinder, four-stroke engine with mushroom-shaped valves. Just like Ottos 1876 engine, Daimlers new engine set the basis for all car engines going forward. Four-Speed Transmission Also in 1889, Daimler and Maybach built their first automobile from the ground up, they did not adapt another purpose vehicle as had always been done previously. The new Daimler automobile had a four-speed transmission and obtained speeds of 10 mph. Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft Gottlieb Daimler founded the Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft in 1890 to manufacture his designs. Wilhelm Maybach was behind the design of the Mercedes automobile. Maybach eventually left Daimler to set up his own factory for making engines for Zeppelin airships. First Automobile Race In 1894, the first automobile race in the world was won by a car with a Daimler engine.