Car Paris. Although several other German engineers (including Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach, and Siegfried Marcus) were working on the problem at about the same time, Karl Benz generally is acknowledged as the inventor of the modern car. In 1879, Benz was granted a patent for his first engine, which had been designed in 1878. Many of his other inventions made the use of the internal combustion engine feasible for powering a vehicle. His first "Motorwagen" was built in 1885 in Mannheim, Germany. He was awarded the patent for its invention as of his application on 29 January 1886 (under the auspices
Internal combustion engine cycles of intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust. The first engines were started with a turn of their flywheels, while the first vehicle (the Daimler Reitwagen) was started with a hand crank. All ICE engined automobiles were started with hand cranks until Charles Kettering developed the electric starter for automobiles. This method is now the most widely used, even among non-automobiles. As diesel engines have become larger and their mechanisms heavier, air starters have come into use. This is due to the lack of torque in electric starters. Air starters work by pumping compressed air into the cylinders of an engine