Siegfried Marcus - The forgotten car inventor

The first car using a gasoline engine was built by Austrian inventor Siegfried Marcus in 1875, but he is often not mentioned.

A name that is often overlooked when talking about the history of the car industry is Siegfried Marcus , an Austrian inventor who built and operated road vehicles powered by 4-stroke gasoline engines about 10 - 15 years ago. when Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach, and Carl Benz put utility vehicles into service. While the trio are often considered pioneers in the car industry, Marcus' contributions deserve no less recognition, according to Amusing Planet.

Second carriage of Siegfried Marcus at the Technical Museum of Vienna. (Photo: Wikipedia).

Siegfried Marcus was born on September 18, 1833 into a Jewish family in Malchin, today located northwest of Berlin, Germany. At age 12, he began working as an apprentice mechanic. Five years later, he joined an engineering company that manufactured telephone lines. When he was 19 years old, Murcus moved to Vienna, the capital of Austria, and began working as a technician at the Institute of Physical Medicine. Later, he became an assistant to physiologist Professor Carl Ludwig. In 1860, he started his own business, opening a factory manufacturing electrical and mechanical equipment and running it for the rest of his life. Marcus's talent for inventing helps him own 131 patents in 16 countries.

Around 1860, Marcus began building the first self-propelled vehicle. At that time, parts of Austria, now part of Poland, began to produce oil. The oil refining process provides kerosene, lubricants and byproduct gasoline. Marcus experimented with gasoline and discovered that when dispersed in air, gasoline could ignite, creating explosive energy. This breakthrough led to the world's first carburetor, which Marcus patented in 1864.

For the first vehicle, Marcus installed a two-stroke internal combustion engine, using gasoline as fuel, into a rudimentary four-wheeled trailer, connected to the rear wheels. The vehicle needs to be started by lifting the two rear wheels off the ground and rotating them by hand. When ready to roll, the vehicle is lowered and left to run on its own. Marcus dismantled this carriage because it was too cumbersome and focused his efforts on refining the design. The second carriage in 1875 was remarkable, equipped with a 4-stroke gasoline engine, a new carburetor and a mechanical spark ignition system. The vehicle can reach a maximum speed of 16 km/h.

Marcus most likely also built the third and fourth vehicles. Later versions were upgraded, integrating steering mechanisms, brakes, clutches and many other necessary equipment. However, they do not exist today. Only the second carriage remains intact, preserved under the ownership of the Austrian Automobile Club and displayed at the Technical Museum of Vienna.

In 1898, Marcus died . As a Jew, Marcus fell victim to Nazi propaganda . His inventions were destroyed, his name was erased from educational books and public memorials to him were dismantled. In July 1940, the German Ministry of Propaganda sent a letter to the board of directors of Daimler - Benz - AG in Stuttgar to inform them that the publishers of two encyclopedias, Meyers Lexikon and Grosse Brockhaus, were instructed to remove Siegfried's name. Marcus, replaced by Gottlieb Damiler and Carl Benz as car inventors.

The Nazis also ordered the destruction of Marcus' car exhibited at the Vienna Automobile Club. Luckily, some members of the Vienne Museum of Commerce and Industry had the foresight to hide the car behind a wall in the museum's basement. Thanks to that, the car was safely protected along with some records of the invention.