Talk:Bertha Benz

=Initial messages== Unless she drove an automobile before 1771 (in which year Nicolas Cugnot is doccumented as doing so, and may have first done so 2 years earlier), she most certainly was not the first person to drive an automobile. -- Infrogmation 01:56, 5 Dec 2003 (UTC)

As far as I know she is spelled Bertha, not Berta! 82.82.117.106 12:23, 5 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Comment upon the above two comments: 1. 'Automobile' here to be understood as a vehicle with an internal combustion engine, not an external (steam) engine. The 18th century is not generally regarded as the century of the invention of the automobile for this reason, although the steam engine and the vehicle mentioned certainly would qualify, in my humble opinion. However, let it be said that M. Cugnot did not travel over 100 km! So that ought to give one pause.... 2. In the 19th century in German she would probably (almost certainly) have spelt her name 'Bertha'. In modern German it is 'Berta'. Take your pick, I suppose. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.54.191.116 (talk) 20:54, 2 August 2005 (UTC)

Motorwagen top speed?!
I think 25mph/40kmh is distinctly ambitious for something of that age and power output, and it's far above even the most optimistic estimates I've seen before (ranging between 8 and 15mph on the whole, and mainly around 9 to 11mph - which would still have felt quite terrifyingly fast on such a machine on those roads). Unless we're counting the highest speed it was estimated to have reached down a steep hill, in neutral, with the brake blocks smouldering, I think someone's got confused between miles and kilometres. Even if it IS in the cited source, a great many more could be brought to bear to suggest the machine's maximum running speed was no better than half that claim, maybe little more than a third. I'm going to double check the source, and depending what it says either correct what's written in the article, or alter it to something more realistic (it doesn't seem anyone ever precisely measured the original Motorwagen's top speed, and it probably varied considerably by fuel, how much weight was on it, temperature/humidity and the phase of the moon, so a close estimate is all I can really do) and delete / comment-out the citation 193.63.174.115 (talk) 09:13, 8 August 2016 (UTC)


 * Yeah, they say 25mph, and they also think it had a 2.5hp engine (not 0.75 to 0.8 as usually stated). They're clearly thinking of some other machine. Correcting and removing citation, at least until the History Channel (that well known bastion of reliability, especially on e.g. the subject of ancient civilisations and whether they were founded by space aliens) sees fit to fix their own hopeless research. Also, I suggest we maybe write articles using more verifiable sources in future, seeing as they haven't cited where they got THEIR information from, and they're FAR from being a suitable primary or secondary source for this kind of thing. 193.63.174.115 (talk) 09:20, 8 August 2016 (UTC)


 * ...pretty certain it used a 2-stroke engine, too. Exactly what car are they thinking of?! 193.63.174.115 (talk) 09:23, 8 August 2016 (UTC)


 * Agreed that a top speed of 25 mph for the Patent-Motorwagen is absolutely out of the question; not only didn't it have the power, but even with a stronger engine it would have been horribly unsafe to try to drive it that fast--such speeds would still have been considered very fast for four-wheeled automobiles a decade later. However, Benz's vehicle definitely had a 4-stroke, Otto-cycle engine, not a 2-stroke. --Colin Douglas Howell (talk) 07:10, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Nothing to do with the Bio of Bertha Benz! - guys´ car talk!- even the separate section about the Motorwagen, which I folded into her adult life, for now. Interesting would be her contributions, guys ! --Wuerzele (talk) 07:38, 3 May 2024 (UTC)

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Removed mis-sourced claim
I have removed the following: "Along the way, several people were frightened by the automobile. Some even thought that two young boys and a woman on a hissing, thumping horseless carriage could only be the work of the Devil himself." The second sentence was sourced to here, but it says nothing of the sort. This seems like the sort of "tall tale" claim we really shouldn't repeat without actual sources. -Elmer Clark (talk) 04:14, 5 August 2018 (UTC)
 * This same citation was used for this: "Karl Benz later wrote the following in his memoirs: 'Only one person remained with me in the small ship of life when it seemed destined to sink. That was my wife. Bravely and resolutely she set the new sails of hope.'" That also appears nowhere on that page, so I removed the reference from there as well, although I did not remove the quote entirely this time as it seems to be well attested elsewhere.  Ideally we really need the direct citation from the memoir itself. -Elmer Clark (talk) 04:20, 5 August 2018 (UTC)
 * The "sails of hope" quote is found in a 2016 Scottish Daily Mail column via Google Books. I'd prefer a more solid source though. ☆ Bri (talk) 04:56, 5 August 2018 (UTC)
 * See p. 23 of Karl Benz's memoirs, also in Google Books Rp (talk) 13:14, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Ns
Me 2C0F:E00:200:BF00:6F:C646:D206:A0D1 (talk) 17:25, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

Bio very incomplete
bio is very focused her test drive. Missing is life before and after test drive! I just reorganized -renamed sections, deleted duplications Wuerzele (talk) 07:35, 3 May 2024 (UTC)