Benz and the autobus: a world first?

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The world’s oldest surviving and original motor car? We’ve talked about that here before. The world’s first collector car? We've been there, too. The world’s first V8 engine? Over here, please. The world’s first car? Well… we may be better off not going down that route again! However, upon seeing this picture—and the claim attached to it—we felt the need to open a similar can of worms.

This is said to be "The first omnibus with petrol engine," or, as it certainly is, "The Benz patent motorised omnibus." Yes, Mercedes-Benz is at it again. But they may well be right—who knows?

Apart from the laborious, uneasy and polluting horse-drawn omnibuses and trams that were in every urban street scene of the late 19th century, the era witnessed the dawn of the steam-powered 'bus, in addition to electrically-operated ones and the so-called trolleybuses, which were fed electricity directly from overhead wires.

Naturally, when petrol engines were gifted to the world, the arrival of the motorised omnibus, or the autobus, was soon to come. We now quote Mercedes-Benz directly: “The world’s first motor coach, ordered on December 19th, 1894, from Benz & Co. in Mannheim, began a scheduled bus service on the route Siegen–Netphen–Deuz. Due to poor weather and technical problems, the bus service was stopped as early as December, 1895. The Daimler omnibus experienced the same fate on the Künzelsau–Mergentheim route. Despite these setbacks, D.M.G. [that’s Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft—J. B.] has a wide selection of motor coaches in its sales range to satisfy the increasing demand for motorised omnibuses starting in 1905.” The picture that’s shown here also was first published in the Siegener Zeitung of March 20th, 1895.

So… what do we think? Without wanting to insult anyone, we found that Panhard et Levassor offered a vehicle, named the Omnibus, in 1894. That particular contraption seated four to six occupants, so it may not satisfy the requirements for a public omnibus in the same way as the Benz. Any opinions?

Words Jeroen Booij
Picture source Mercedes-Benz AG

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