born Nov. 25, 1844, Karlsruhe, Baden
died April 4, 1929, Ladenburg, Ger.
German mechanical engineer who designed and built the first practical automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine .
The original car, his three-wheeled Motorwagen , first ran in 1885. Benz's company produced its first four-wheeled car in 1893 and the first of its series of racing cars in 1899. Benz left the company in 1906 to form another group with his sons. In 1926 the Benz company merged with the company started by Gottlieb Daimler .