This post, provided by the Brooklyn Heights workers’ comp lawyers at The Disability Guys, provides a brief history of the invention of the engine and car, as well as information on local auto body shops.
Steam Before Gasoline
Although modern cars are predominately powered through gasoline, the first engine used steam for power. This engine was built by Jeronimo de Ayanz in 1606 and was used to pump water from mines. This original design was worked on for several centuries by other inventors, each one improving upon the design and making engines more powerful. Then, in 1879, Karl Benz obtained a patent for the first gasoline engine.
A German inventor, Benz went on to use that engine in a three-wheeled car that historians call the first modern car. He patented this car in 1886 and sold around 25 models.
Although Benz is credited with building the first modern car, he wasn’t the first to come up with the concept and he had a lot of competition. Other inventors in France, Germany, and the United States also built similar vehicles.
James William Lambert: The First Man To Crash A Car
James William Lambert was very enthusiastic about the great strides being made in the realm of personal vehicles that weren’t powered by horses. He built his own car that was powered by a single-cylinder gasoline engine and that had three wheels. He took the car for a drive with a friend, not realizing that a design flaw made the vehicle relatively unstable. When a tire hit a tree root, he lost control and crashed into a hitching post.
Thankfully no one was hurt in the accident, other than the car.
Inventors like Lambert had to make their own repairs when an accident happened but today, car owners can choose from many different auto body shops.
Auto Body Shops In And Near Brooklyn Heights, NY
Our Brooklyn Heights workers’ compensation attorneys have created this list of auto body shops in the area:
Sam’s Auto Body Shop
50 Old Fulton St,
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 488-5990
New Xcell Auto Repair
60 Cadman Plaza W,
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 625-4110
Park West Autobody Inc
576 Union St,
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 875-2495
New York Auto
293 Nevins St,
Brooklyn, NY 11217
(718) 643-9000
Learn more about this neighborhood by reading our post on the history of Brooklyn Heights.