History of the diesel car Production diesel car history started in 1933 with Citroën's Rosalie, which featured a diesel engine option (the 1,766 cc 11UD engine) in the Familiale (estate or station wagon) model. The Mercedes-Benz 260D and the Hanomag Rekord were introduced in 1936. Immediately after World War II, and throughout the 1950s and 1960s, diesel-powered cars began to gain limited popularity, particularly for commercial applications, such as ambulances, taxis, and station wagons used for delivery work. Most were conventional in design. Mercedes-Benz offered a continuous stream of diesel-powered taxis, beginning in 1949 with their 170D powered by the OM-636 engine. Later, in 1959
Kansas City Motor Car Company wide range of vehicles from 1905 to 1909, when in a last ditch effort to stay in business, the company was reorganized as The Wonder Motor Car Company and manufactured the Kansas City Wonder Automobile briefly in 1909. No examples of any Caps Brothers, Kansas City, or Wonder cars or trucks are known to exist today. Through their five years in the business, the Kansas City Motor Car Company manufactured a full line of vehicles ranging early on from two to four and five seater cars with 20 horse air cooled two cylinder engines and 50 horsepower four cylinder engines.