I encourage female #DavesCarIDService enthusiasts to bookmark this thread for the next time someone jokes about women drivers. Because today we salute Bertha Benz, the Neil Armstrong of motoring, who 136 years ago tomorrow embarked on a 66 miles journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim… pic.twitter.com/4dp4sfZCuT

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) August 4, 2024

...who 136 years ago tomorrow embarked on a 66 miles journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim in 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen. 

Bertha's husband Karl, the inventor of her car, was unaware of her clandestine Sunday joyride. Accompanied by her two teenage sons, they pushed the car out of its garage and off into the great unknown. In anticipation of the trip, she arrange for the first filling station midway in Wiesloch, because the car's 1.3 gallon tank would need refueling. Gasoline was largely unknown at the time, so she bought lingroin (a petroleum solvent used in cleaning) from area apothecaries. 

There were no roadmaps, let alone what we'd consider roads, so navigation was mostly by directions from local yokels; and frequent stops at streams and horse tanks for water to cool the engine. Along the way she also assisted in trouble shooting, using her hatpin to clear a blocked fuel line and her garter to insulate a spark wire. 

The trip proved a PR bonanza, and was the event that launched Mercedes-Benz, and the entire automobile industry, into public awareness. The photo on left is recreation of the event from a contemporary film, but the real photo portrait on right shows that Bertha was a quite lovely woman.