The ''Stahlradwagen'' (or "steel-wheeled car") was

Gottlieb Daimler Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist. He was a pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile development. He invented the high-speed liquid petroleum-fue ...

's second

motor car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one bil ...

. After seeing Panhard's Daimler-designed

V-twin engine A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders are arranged in a V configuration and share a common crankshaft. The V-twin is widely associated with motorcycles, primarily installed longitudinally ...

demonstrated at the Paris Exposition of 1889 and inquiring into the engine's weight and power, Armand Peugeot expressed his interest in a lightweight

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on railway track, rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such ...

Wilhelm Maybach Wilhelm Maybach (; 9 February 1846 – 29 December 1929) was an early German engine designer and industrialist. During the 1890s he was hailed in France, then the world centre for car production, as the "King of Designers". From the late 19th ce ...

to develop the vehicle. The tubular steel frame resembled two bicycles joined side by side and was made by bicycle manufacturer Neckarsulmer Stahlfabriken, which would later become part of

NSU Motorenwerke NSU Motorenwerke AG, or NSU, was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles and pedal cycles, founded in 1873. Acquired by Volkswagen Group in 1969, VW merged NSU with Auto Union, creating Audi NSU Auto Union AG, ultimately Audi. The NSU i ...

. Water, to cool the engine, was run through the tubular frame. The Stahlradwagen was demonstrated toward the end of the 1889 Exposition.

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

began building cars based on the Stahlradwagen design by 1890.

Notes

References

* * * * Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft Cars introduced in 1889 Vehicles introduced in 1889 1880s cars {{Veteran-auto-stub