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Building on his earlier innovations, Siegfried Marcus created his second motorized vehicle in 1888/89, a significant improvement over his initial cart. This car featured a new petrol engine equipped with a revolutionary low-voltage ignition magneto, patented in 1883, and a rotating brush carburetor. These advancements allowed the engine to achieve greater efficiency and reliability, setting it apart as a landmark in internal combustion technology. By this time, Marcus’ engine designs had already found practical applications, such as powering German Navy torpedo boats by 1886.
The second Marcus car, now preserved at Vienna’s Technical Museum, is recognized as a functional example of late-19th-century automotive engineering. Built in collaboration with the Moravian company Märky, Bromovsky & Schulz, it utilized both two-stroke and, later, four-stroke engine designs following the expiration of the Otto patent in 1886. While early 20th-century accounts erroneously dated this car’s construction to 1875 and described it as the first petrol-powered road vehicle, subsequent investigations clarified its true origins in the late 1880s.
Despite its historical importance, Marcus’ vehicles were largely experimental and were not mass-produced, unlike the work of contemporaries such as Karl Benz. Critiques of the time deemed the cars impractical for widespread use. Nevertheless, the second Marcus car’s journey from Vienna to Klosterneuberg and its enduring presence in the Vienna Technical Museum highlight its significance as a testament to the innovative spirit of Siegfried Marcus. Today, it stands as a remarkable artifact of early automotive history, showcasing the ingenuity that paved the way for modern vehicles.
