Internal combustion engine and Felice Matteucci tried to patent "Obtaining motive power by the explosion of gases", although the application did not progress to the granted stage. In 1860, Belgian Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir produced a gas-fired internal combustion engine. In 1864, Nikolaus Otto patented the first atmospheric gas engine. In 1872, American George Brayton invented the first commercial liquid-fuelled internal combustion engine. In 1876, Nikolaus Otto, working with Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, patented the compressed charge, four-cycle engine. In 1879, Karl Benz patented a reliable two-stroke gasoline engine. Later, in 1886, Karl Benz began the first commercial production of motor vehicles
Internal combustion engine cooling leaner fuel mixtures became the norm. Subaru chose liquid-cooling for their EA series (flat) engine when it was introduced in 1966. A special class of experimental prototype internal combustion piston engines have been developed over several decades with the goal of improving efficiency by reducing heat loss. These engines are variously called adiabatic engines, due to better approximation of adiabatic expansion, low heat rejection engines, or high-temperature engines. They are generally diesel engines with combustion chamber parts lined with ceramic thermal barrier coatings. Some make use of titanium pistons and other titanium parts due to its low thermal conductivity and