The sources

Fahrzeug mit Gasmotorenbetrieb (Vehicle Powered by a Gas Engine)

Benz, Carl · German Imperial Patent Office, patent no. 37435 · 29 January 1886

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Carl Benz’s patent is the documentary starting point for the motor-car story. It fixes the invention in 1886 before Bertha Benz made the machine legible to the wider world by driving it.

Cited in

Benz, Carl. German patent no. 37435, 'Fahrzeug mit Gasmotorenbetrieb.' Filed 29 January 1886; granted 2 November 1886.