The Benz Patent-Motorwagen ("patent motorcar"), built in 1885 by the German Karl Benz, is widely regarded as the first practical modern automobile[1][a] and was the first car put into production.[8] It was patented in January 1886 and unveiled in public later that year. The original cost of the vehicle was 600 imperial German marks,[9] approximately 150 US dollars (equivalent to $5,100 in 2023).
Two years after Karl Benz drove the car in public in July 1886,[10] Karl's wife Bertha demonstrated its feasibility in a trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim in August 1888. Around the same time, the Patent-Motorwagen became the first commercially available automobile in history.[11] Émile Roger, who made Benz engines under license in France, was one of the first persons to buy Benz' car; from 1888, Roger was also the salesperson of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen in France, selling one to Émile Levassor in 1888.[12][13] The Patent-Motorwagen was shown at an exhibition in Munich in 1888, winning a gold medal, and at the 1889 Paris Exposition.[13]
Due to the creation of the Patent-Motorwagen, Karl Benz has been hailed as the father and inventor of the automobile.[1][14][15] @Moteusz