Benz Motorwagen 1886 – The first automobile with combustion engine. When Karl Benz applied for a patent on January 29, 1886 for his “vehicle with gas engine operation,” little did he realize that his invention would change the world. Patent DRP 37435 is regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile. With test drives carried out in the autumn of 1885, the Benz Patent Motor Car was the world’s first automobile.