Miguel Sánchez
PHOTOS VAPOR CUGNOT: AVUNIXGEEK
What is the oldest car in the world? Does the Benz Patent-Motorwagen of 1885? It could be but no. Although it is the first internal combustion car a century before it existed a steam beast capable of propelling at 4 kms / h. Accustomed to the figures of the current F1 ... Surely this makes you laugh. But actually it should cause you respect because we are talking about something born in 1769. The first “car”Of the world is French and is called Cugnot steam.
Well, obviously the "car”We put it in quotes because between this and any of the cars you can see on the street today there are huge differences. However ... Soon you will see how the problems of this monstrosity are basically the same as those faced by any current engineer. Differences aside, the truth is that it can be considered a car since it moves by itself.
To do this you only need a huge amount of steam, a lot of patience ... And a battlefield to head to. And it is that, like many other mechanical advances, the oldest car in the world is also the son of military industry. Allied with the rebels of the American colonies against the United Kingdom, the French monarchy provided technical support to some revolutionaries whose later Gallic replica would end up cutting off the king's head.
And well, although the Cugnot steam was not exactly a key weapon during the fight ... Yes at least intended to give a viable solution to the transport of heavy artillery. Of course, at the cost of relentlessly devouring cuts and cuts of wood. How was this handled? How is it like your car? Let's see it.
THE WORLD'S OLDEST CAR: THE SAME PROBLEMS
The first attempts to make something move on its own owed more to water than oil. And it is that, until the arrival of the combustion engine, if someone thought about how to move a piston they would automatically resort to steam. Under this premise Nicholas-Joseph cugnot began the design of the oldest car in the world, equipped with a single cylinder powered by steam from a huge boiler.
In addition to taking a long time to accumulate enough strength to start walking, when he did its tip was 4 kms / h. It seems little, but to move artillery from one battlefield to another it was enough. In fact, the problem was not speed, but simply getting there. And the thing is ... Does the weight distribution sound familiar to you? The problem of suspensions? The inaccurate directions? Exactly, many of the problems that still present dozens of models today.
Driving the Vapor Cugnot was not easy, since everything was entrusted to a kind of rudder attached to the front wheel. The same one that was responsible for the traction. Imagine this "chassis”Without any type of suspension rattling on the roads trusting the advance and the direction to the same wheel ... An explosive cocktail in which the first car in the world starred in the first car accident in history.
AND HOW MANY POINTS DOES THIS REMOVE ON THE CARD?
Viewing all the behavior problems of your vehicle, Cugnot released an improved version in 1771. However, not even with this, the steam accumulated good reviews, being captured in history as an unfortunate rarity just before the arrival of the train for the movement of goods. Yes indeed, in 1801 the second unit crashed into a wall in what is the first recorded car accident. Although crashing at less than 4 km / h reminds us a lot of a certain comedy scene ...
As it is easy to imagine most of the mechanical devices born in the heat of a war tend to disappear scattered around. However, this was not the case with the Cugnot Steamer. Acquired by the French state in 1800, the first unit went into the collection of the National Museum of Arts and Crafts. A perfect place to recognize the importance of this great unknown. The Cugnot Steam, possibly the oldest automobile in history.
Have you been wanting to read 'alternative mobility' stories? We encourage you to read our history of the compressed air motor 😉
