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From Horse to Horseless Carriage continued
In 1836, attempts had been made, by E. and P. Michaux of France, to produce a steam powered bicycle. Although the idea of steam engines for road use was now popular, these first bicycle engines were slow to start (since the user had to wait for the water to boil to provide the steam) and relatively bulky. However, despite these setbacks, development of steam powered vehicles was continued until after World War I, when petrol driven vehicles became more popular. The research which eventually produced the petrol driven engine had its origins in the work of engineers, such as J. Lenoir of Belgium. In 1860, Lenoir designed the first engine to be driven by internal combustion using gas as a fuel. In other words, the power was provided by gases expanding as a result of a reaction within the cylinder of the engine. Lenoir had devised a method of driving an engine that was originally steam driven, by using the power of gas. The important difference between his engine and a steam engine was that gas entered the cylinder and was then ignited by a spark. The expanding gas then pushed the cylinder forward, in a similar manner to the steam engine cycle. Lenoir developed the engine and, in 1862, was the first person to fit an internal combustion engine to a vehicle. However, the vehicle lacked power, and gas was a difficult fuel to use.
Gottlieb Daimler, a German who knew Lenoir and had seen his gas powered vehicle, realised that a less bulky fuel was needed to make the idea a success. Daimler was working for Nickolaus Otto who, in 1876, had designed and produced a more efficient, four stroke, gas powered engine. Otto asked Daimler to investigate into the use of petrol as an alternative fuel. Daimler, seeing the potential of the new fuel, left to set up his own company. Within three years he had developed a light, petrol driven engine.
It was in 1885 that Karl Benz produced the first petrol driven motor vehicle. Benz's vehicle had three wheels, with the back wheel being driven by a rear, mounted engine. Power was transmitted from the engine to the wheel using a leather belt. Then, in 1886, Daimler built the first four wheeled vehicle. Because it was developed from a horse-drawn carriage, it became known as the horseless carriage. This term was used for a while, until the more modern term, motor car, came into general use.
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