The world's first long-distance car journey - BBC REEL

In 1888, Bertha Benz, wife of automotive inventor Karl Benz, set off on a groundbreaking trip. A pioneer and investor in her own right, Bertha took the world's first combustion engine-powered car on the world's first long-distance car journey.
The 100km journey was full of inventive problem-solving. Bertha made numerous stops to source fuel, fix the carburettor and the brakes. Her trip became a vital road test of the car's good points as well as highlighting teething issues.
Video by Next Stop Stories
Executive produced & narrated by Howard Timberlake
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[@pipe2devnull]

It was the Benz children who coined the phrase “Are we there yet?”

[@user-jd9hw4in6l]

LOL

[@Kenan-Z]

It seems that Bertha was a very brave and smart woman. She had the soul of a real pioneer. I can't imagine what she would have done if she had lived nowadays.

[@rpmhart]

I'm thinkin'......first cafe' on Mars. Great Strudel with ice cream. Plus she built the ship that got there first.

[@okaydoubleu]

I was thinking she incarnated into a certain Mr Musk.

[@semikolondev]

@@okaydoubleu a vaporware fake engineering like Elizabeth holmes? I doubt it.

[@earth.planet8860]

@@okaydoubleu Hell no! musk is not an inventor but a good salesman

[@vultureculture7707]

​@okaydoubleu heck naw bro, Musk isn't an inventor, he's an investor. That's it.

[@k33i33]

It seems Bertha was a better mechanic than most garage mechanics today

[@Arltratlo]

easy, she is German while your mechanics are a bunch of colonists!

[@edp3202]

​@@Arltratlotruth. 😩

[@thatsawesome2060]

​@@Arltratlo LoL it's also scary when the colonists were also Germany

[@EcoEnvious]

She invented the road trip!!! I wonder what kind of snacks they had along the way.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

She also invented car theft before her trip and gas station on it.

[@genespell4340]

​@@vksasdgaming9472it was a family owned vehicle. No theft occurred.

[@Arltratlo]

German food!

[@edp3202]

Fun fruits?

[@dachecker79]

Schweinebraten mit Röstkartoffeln !

[@jasonp.1195]

I thoroughly enjoyed this segment. A really fun and human scale event right at the dawn of the automobile. Charmingly captured by the film team, nice work.

[@GoonGuy76]

I like to imagine if her sons her arguing she’d snap at them and say “Don’t make me make you kids turn this thing around“ then they shut up

[@NinjaNuggets21]

She was technically the first actual driver.

[@kushagrashrivastava4880]

And technically the world's first car mechanic as well.

[@anoopsagar8911]

She drove more than a car She drove an entire industry that day.

[@kristoffermangila]

More precisely, the first test driver.

[@beakittelscherz5419]

Next time an USAmerican asks me if "we have even Cars in Germany" i'll send this little video over🇩🇪😂😜

[@genespell4340]

We do have some pretty ignorant people in the states. And you, just happen to run into more than your fair share.

[@LETMino85]

😂

[@shaylow988]

What an incredible woman! Thank you for sharing this story!

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

Now THIS would make for an interesting movie.

[@Zenny916]

Bertha Benz has long been my hero! She had real gumption.

[@judithgockel1001]

What a great family.

[@charlessands6933]

Bertha Benz died in 1944 at the age of 95 years and 2 days.

[@TheRoyalBavarian]

As a decendent of a Bavarian family I take pride in the fortitude of Bertha Benz. She is certainly the mother of German engineering.

[@mymizie]

What a wonderful woman ... I admire her so much.

[@Thomas-pq4ys]

As a mechainic, craftsman in metal, and an amateur machinist, I run across very few women capable of these skills, developed to even my low level. I I do know female welders, but only one who is creative with it... a sculptor. For the others, it's their job. My gal sews for a living. She does sew her own creations at home.... amazing quilts... I stand back.... I'd never do that... so complex... mond boggling. I'd love to teach her how to weld... I'd unleash a monster I'm sure.

[@MrSunrise-]

Just tell her that it is "sewing with fire" - which isn't too far off the truth.

[@khalidalali186]

What an incredible story, and what a wonderful couple they were.

[@edp3202]

A true team.

[@NTSVEN]

An invention that changed the way we commute.

[@velavanlaack9134]

She was might be is the most successful angel investor

[@bungeechord1]

Great story!

[@sjouke120]

i love history!

[@amiralozse1781]

what an incredible story! this brave an ingenious woman should be called Bertha Balls

[@saipraveenkondapalli8979]

A true pioneer .

[@GauravSingh-js3vm]

This car really cool👍👍

[@travishaynes1180]

Most people don't know this but Bertha was also a bit of an alcoholic so , the first long distance auto trip was also the first DUI !!

[@grahamkearnon6682]

A very neat story, nowadays people want less cars in the cities.

[@DavidLouisLouis-qh9ni]

I can't stop laughing, I'm going to Paris I'm taking the kid's PS I'm taking the car 🤣🤣🤣‼️

[@enriquelopezfarias1168]

I WANT TO CRY, WHEN I THINK HOW MANY BRILLIANTS BRAINS AND YOUNG MEN IN BOTH WW DIE.WHAT WONDERS WE COULD SEE TODAY.AND THEIR GREAT GRAND CHILDREN PLAYING AROUND.

[@Skyhi.Visuals]

“ his invention “ who cares about this lady who drove it … cool so strong and inspiring very independent

[@melissarainchild]

Girl power!!!

[@kasondaleigh]

So interesting.

[@mathex95]

Very nice

[@Veni_Vidi_Vortice]

Needs more cupholders.

[@TheRoon4660]

She has a very lovely face and seems full of personality.

[@jonathancabalfin3598]

If you want to predict the future... you' must invent it!!!!!!!!

[@engr.aminulrmdsl3508]

Bertha a great German!

[@Maniacguy2777]

There's a proverb said: Behind a successful man There's a woman.

[@dalemettee1147]

Do we still have any of the Benz family living in Manheim?

[@kajilai]

Ah the power of a good woman

[@mattorama]

So this would have been the first grand tour.

[@kumareshkcb4076]

Wow

[@TropicalGardenGuy]

When the machine stalled, wonder how she got it started?

[@hawsrulebegin7768]

An amazing women.

[@F4Insight-uq6nt]

Proof of Claim Required.

[@larrycrane3255]

It is important to note: The Patent Wagon was patented by Karl Benz; A woman's name could not be on a patent document.

[@michaeldonnelly6032]

The kids would have said are we there yet

[@LuminousAnima]

The lady gets all the credit here lmao

[@tedf1471]

Or maybe Bertha gets the credit she deserves?

[@dguy0386]

in this specific event Karl wasn't even involved, I'm sure he'd get more focus as well if this were the broader story of the vehicle

[@user-ce9vd6jt5q]

i love germany piopel

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

I can't imagine the chutzpah needed to go against every single man she met on the very first long distance car trip.

[@beakittelscherz5419]

Benz married Couple invented and worked on it, yet it is only his statue there... 😑 No surprise

[@LETMino85]

No, it's her. I've been there.

[@johnball8758]

Imagine,probably no paved roads,no road signs and stopping at every drug store for gas.Very brave and maybe a little naive.I wonder why she didn't invite the husband or at least tell him in advance?

[@LETMino85]

He was too scared. She didn't even tell him that she took the car, which technically makes her the first car thief too.

[@martinstock]

It was a tour along the main roads between towns. Outwards pretty much along existing railway lines and rivers. Back was a bit more adventurous route. Only towns had pharmacies. And smaller villages, not even a shoemaker (there were traveling shoemakers offering their services there from time to time). Milestones with directions and other signs did also exist. Just no classical standardized road signs. Other travelers using horse carriages or walking had the same needs. But for sure this was an adventure at this time.

[@edp3202]

Cause she was a bad ass.

[@_guavo_]

Hmmm, time travellers, you know what to do.

[@Hackney_Boy-DoesntReadReplies]

I wonder what they would think of the destruction caused by cars and in the name of cars.

[@brianellison3525]

I think they would've enjoyed a good demo derby

[@antongavutti4376]

Isang matapang na babae si bertha. Taas saludo kami sa iyo. Pero ang EV ay papalit sa mga sasakyan ng gumagamit ng gas at diesel.

[@AndreaCandido-tp4kk]

... now i would like To know who has my smArT for 2 vehicle . paipers which were stolen

[@TheLondonForever00]

But downhill it did 120mph

[@stromghouls]

100 km in 2023 is nothing. there are people who drive more than this to go to work every day. i drive on average 65 000 km a year trouble free. i drove from northern quebec to florida, 7000 km round trip trouble free like it was nothing.

[@MrPicky]

Yeah, the wonders of great motorways, also another German invention that didn't appear until decades later.

[@Enzo012]

I'd say that's motor powered tricycle not a car?

[@AndreaCandido-tp4kk]

... ThE Twin sisTer of my Mam Hedy has had girl given namen BerTha

[@markjoyce3172]

What was she REALLY out there doing, aye

[@Go-Getter]

Her husband built the car but because she decided to drive it and told him to put another gear in it she is this great contributor to automobile history? Lol. The narratives that we allow women to get away with has become ridiculous.

[@ImmoMolinos]

in fact . she refused to marry a rich man , and married a broke dreaming ingeneer called Carl Benz

[@pkz5800]

German women are good mechanics, I hear they like a good throttle and Like it hard and fast…

[@edp3202]

Oy vey

[@guff9567]

So now we have to blame women for climate catastrophy?

[@jbanders2358]

Knowing that the first vehicles were electric, this may go down as one of the worst inventions of all time for the planet. Hard not to imagine how far advanced our civilization would be if we stuck with electric...

[@brianellison3525]

First vehicles were animal drawn, then steam.

[@ABFMick]

Aviation still hasn't cracked electric propulsion. Neither has space travel. Without the internal combustion engine and fossil fuels it's unlikely we would have had the first flight 14 years after Bertha made her journey. Without that we may never have had the moon landing or satellites, GPS or Internet like we have today. Fossil fuels and the internal combustion engine were the best technology of their day.

[@jbanders2358]

@@brianellison3525 ugh the first car was electric smh

[@orionfernandes4587]

@@jbanders2358 proof?

[@vksasdgaming9472]

@@ABFMick Actually aviation has cracked electric propulsion. Problem is having enough juice for aircraft to be able to do anything beyond going airborne.

[@libertas-goddessofliberty5664]

Umm, excuse me??!! How do you know they IDENTIFIED as a woman?!! 😠😠😡😡 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@NeovanGoth]

Why are you people so obsessed with identity politics?

[@dguy0386]

​@@NeovanGoththey're joking, thank goodness