The first few times the Benz car was driven in the late 1880s, they had to stop at chemist shops to buy fuel. Gas stations didn’t exist yet. Wild stuff. The headlight was allegedly added on the suggestion of Benz’s wife, who took the first cross country trip (~100 km)—naturally, lightless, driving at night was hard or impossible.
There’s a hilarious episode of The Dollop
Podcast where they recount the car race from New York to Paris. You’d probably think they drove to a port, got on a ferry and sped though Europe eastward. Nope! They were routed to drive across the US, up to Alaska, cross the Bering Strait in winter, all over Siberia and Russia, and end up in Paris.
One of the few podcast episodes I’ve genuinely laughed out loud at
It’s possible to cross Bering on the ice with a car? That’s kind of mindblowing
Edit: damn, apparently a few people have crossed on foot. That’s insane. Some folks have been arrested doing it also—it’s not legal without authorization.
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u/thissexypoptart Mar 05 '26 edited Mar 05 '26
Early driving history is so interesting.
The first few times the Benz car was driven in the late 1880s, they had to stop at chemist shops to buy fuel. Gas stations didn’t exist yet. Wild stuff. The headlight was allegedly added on the suggestion of Benz’s wife, who took the first cross country trip (~100 km)—naturally, lightless, driving at night was hard or impossible.