All language subtitles for The Cars That Built The World S01E01 Fuelling Invention

C)

(hammering)

(fire crackling)

(cork pops)

(knocking)

(rising suspenseful music)

(explosion booming)

(townspeople screaming)

- I put my gloves to
soak in some ligroin.

(flames crackling)

(moving into driving
percussion music)

- [narrator] as the
20th century approaches,

industrialization
is accelerating,

while steam powers an
explosion of manufacturing

and transforms transportation.

But for most, getting around
still requires a horse.

Now, a small group of
visionary engineers

pioneer a radical new invention.

- These first cars were
very rudimentary machines,

but this technology was
really unheard of at the time.

- [narrator] the automobile
unlocks the potential

of personalized travel--

it's hard to think
of another invention

that has had a greater impact
on the way we live our lives.

- [narrator] creating
a new global industry

fueled by rivalry.

- They're all a bit obsessive,
but they're all driven

by this singular goal
of a brighter tomorrow.

- [narrator] as benz, daimler,
maybach, rolls and royce,

ford,

bentley,

porsche,

honda,

and toyota

create the cars
that made the world.

(church bell tolling f

- [narrator] working tirelessly
in his home workshop in germany,

struggling inventor karl benz
thinks he's solved a problem

that's stumped him for
the last five years,

thanks to a chance nearby fire

triggered by a common
cleaning solvent

that's made from petroleum
and highly flammable

(flames crackling)

called ligroin.

- Karl benz realized that
this cleaning solvent

could be a very
potent fuel source.

- [narrator] if he can harness
ligroin's explosive power,

he might just reinvent
personal transportation.

For 60 years, steam-powered
trains have moved the masses.

- Steam power is great if you
don't care about the weight

and the size of the engine.

But if you're gonna move
people around individually,

you have to get, really,
more bang for your buck.

- [narrator] while some
insist steam engines

can be made small enough to
replace the horse and carriage,

benz believes in a
radical alternative.

- Steam was popular,
electricity was popular.

And then, out there,
right on the outliers,

you had this crazy bunch
of individuals going,

"no, no, no, what you need

"is this thing called the
internal combustion engine."

- [narrator] internal
combustion engines

inject a mixture of fuel and
air into an enclosed cylinder,

ignite them, and use the
energy of the explosion

to power motion.

But early versions are used
only in heavy industry.

- They were these huge
stationary pieces of machinery

that were loud, noisy, dirty,
smoke-belching affairs.

- [narrator] now, benz wants
to shrink this giant machine

and make it mobile.

To harness his new fuel source,

he builds a small
internal combustion engine

onto a tricycle frame with
carriage-style wheels.

- There was really no guide book

for how you build
the automobile.

So, people like karl benz

were just experimenting
and experimenting.

(engine sputtering)

- again.

- You're making a vehicle
that's not a train,

it's not a horse and carriage.
(engine chugging)

it's this completely
new invention.

- It seemed like magic

and it was really
quite beautiful.

- The tinkerers, the inventors,

they could see that
this was just the start.

They were proving the concept.

And if they could demonstrate
that the concept worked,

they could change society.

- [narrator] in 1886,
benz is awarded a patent

for his invention.

He calls it the motorwagen.

But two years later,

benz is still tinkering,

to the frustration of his
main financial backer,

his wife bertha,

who's secretly booked a
spot for the motorwagen

at the 1889 paris world's fair.

- I think it's
time people see it.

- It's not ready for
a stage like that!

- [narrator] bertha's
sunk her entire dowry

and future inheritance
into his motorwagen.

- You have created
something special.

- He didn't see it
as much more than

a project to be optimized.

- We'll talk about
this tomorrow.

- [jan] she saw that it
could be extraordinary.

- Karl benz is almost
this introverted engineer

and he needs bertha's
marketing genius

to bring this car to life.

- [narrator] as bertha's
frustration grows,

others are starting
to crack the code

of internal combustion.

Just 80 miles away,

engineer gottlieb daimler
has built a reputation

designing huge factory engines.

Like benz, he sees a radically
different use for them.

- He was convinced that you
could miniaturize these engines

and put them into vehicles.

- [narrator] while benz has
claimed the first car patent,

daimler is determined to
be first into production.

- Among these men, there's
a lot of competition

because they all want
to have the most power,

the best engine, the
first working automobile.

- [narrator] he designs
a car with four wheels

and an engine that's twice as
powerful as the motorwagen.

But he needs investors
to bring it to market.

- Looks like a horse
carriage without any horses.

- Exactly!

Imagine going wherever you
want, whenever you want,

never needing a horse.

- Everybody understood the
market for industrial engines.

Daimler wanted to make engines

for a market that
didn't even exist yet,

which is a very hard
sell to investors.

- Karl benz patented a
motor vehicle two years ago

and he still hasn't
started selling it.

If we act now, we could
beat him to the market.

- We already have a market.

- [narrator] the
investors agree to fund

his factory engines, but
won't commit to making cars.

- Are you still
interested or not?

- Well, let's go and
discuss the details.

- [narrator] the
deal keeps daimler

and design partner
wilhelm maybach working,

but it means giving up
control of his company.

Meanwhile, for karl benz,

who's funded by
his wealthy wife,

cashflow isn't the problem.

Confidence is.

- Karl would just
tinker with this thing

over and over again 'til
it met this platonic idea

in his head of what
would be perfect.

Well, it was bertha
who realized,

at some point you gotta get
this thing actually on the road

and you actually have to show
people what this thing can do.

(slow bass guitar music)

- bertha!

Bertha!

- [narrator] as karl stalls--

- [narrator] by 1888,
new developments

like electric lights, moving
pictures, and the telephone

are changing lives
for the better.

Now, inventor karl
benz is convinced

internal combustion
engines will follow

by replacing the horse.

But after seven years
developing his motorwagen,

he's yet to sell one.

Determined to bring her
husband's invention

to the world,

bertha benz takes matters
into her own hands.

(light suspenseful music)

- she wanted her
husband's achievements

to be amplified so that
everyone would know.

- [narrator] in a publicity
stunt that's ahead of its time,

bertha sets out
with her two sons,

hoping to drive to her
mother's house 65 miles away.

- [jan] it was extraordinary!

Nothing had ever gone more than
a couple of hundred meters.

- [narrator] but world's
firsts don't come easily.

The tiny one-cylinder engine

limits their speed
to a fast walk.

And the motorwagen's fuel tank
only carries enough ligroin

to drive about 30 miles.

- Finally, it gasps and
it runs out of fuel.

"everybody out," she says,

"we're going to push it
to the next village."

- [narrator] luckily,
while gasoline is rare

and hard to come by,

ligroin is a readily available
household cleaning product.

- A key part for
internal combustion fuel

is you have to be
able to get it,

and you could go to
a local apothecary

and they might actually
have ligroin there.

- I need to purchase
some ligroin.

Five liters, more
if you have it.

- I'm sure it
musta made a scene,

seeing a formally-dressed woman

buy this solvent for
this crazy machine.

I'm sure nobody had any idea
what the hell was going on.

- This is all I have.

- Thank you, sir.

(suspenseful percussion music)

- [narrator] but fuel
isn't her only problem.

- Bertha wasn't just a driver,
she was a no-joke mechanic.

She used a hat pin to
clean out the fuel line

and then used part of her
garter and wrapped it around

to repair the spark plug wires.

She took it upon herself to do
exactly what had to be done,

which is show the world
this is a viable machine.

(engine chugging)

- here we go.

- [narrator] bertha and her sons

complete their 65-mile
journey in 12 hours

and announce their
achievement to the world.

- She sent telegrams
to newspapers

in berlin, paris,

rome, london, and all the
way to the united states.

- [narrator] it's the
ultimate proof of concept.

- Bertha's road trip
showed that you can travel

where you wanted,
when you wanted.

You weren't constrained

by where the nearest
train station was.

It really proved

this entire idea of this new
invention, the automobile.

- [narrator] bertha's bold move

convinces karl to
make one of his own.

(dramatic music)

- [narrator] in the shadow of
the newly-built eiffel tower,

32 million people flood
the french capital

for the paris world's fair.

- If you're a company,
if you're a country

and you have a new technology
that you wanna boast about,

then you're gonna show
this off at a world's fair.

- [narrator] on display
is thomas edison's

latest record player,
an otis safety elevator

and, representing the
future of transportation,

karl benz's motorwagen.

- It is the only
place you could go to

to see everything that
the world had invented,

and it was a big thing
for benz to be there.

- [narrator] but the
motorwagen isn't alone.

Gottlieb daimler is there too

with a prototype of
his wire-wheel car,

a four-wheeled vehicle
powered by a two-cylinder

one-and-a-half-horsepower
engine,

making it twice as powerful

as the motorwagen's
single-cylinder engine.

But thanks to bertha, all
eyes are on the motorwagen.

As benz a sales deal
with a french enthusiast,

daimler's in desperate
need of funding

to get his car into production.

- For daimler, things
must have been frustrating

because everybody knew about
the benz patent-motorwagen,

but daimler's was a much,
much better vehicle.

- [narrator] he needs to
convince his business partners

to invest before it's too late.

- [man] pull!

(gun firing)

- gottlieb, wilhelm.

- Benz has broken through.

He's showing his motorwagen
at the world's fair.

He's selling them as we speak.

- And what does that
have to do with us?

We just can't leave
the market up to benz!

- Are you suggesting
diverting funds

from a proven factory engine
for some high-risk invention?

- [narrator] daimler
wanted to make engines

for a market that
didn't even exist yet,

which is a very hard
sell to investors.

- [narrator] to them, daimler's
vision is a pipe dream

that they refuse
to spend money on.

If he wants to make cars,

he'll have to find
another way to do it.

- Daimler and maybach were
taking an enormous risk.

- [narrator] in the
1890s, germany is booming,

an epicenter of
industrial progress

with a growing market
of wealthy consumers

that karl benz is
finally cashing in on.

- It was like it just
dawned on karl benz.

"oh, I can make
money doing this."

- [narrator] he upgrades his
three-wheeler to four wheels

and is now selling
cars in germany,

France, and even
the united states.

- Karl benz understood that
this was not just a hobby.

It was a business that
he could dominate.

- [narrator] with
cars in their infancy,

they're an expensive
proposition.

A top-end benz
costs 2,500 marks,

over $100,000 today.

- Like a lot of new
technology, even today,

cars at that time were the
preserve of the very rich.

They were a status symbol

for the elite to show
off to their friends.

- [narrator] elites
like charles rolls.

- Charles, how much further?

- (laughing) it's
just around that bend.

- You said that three
miles and two hours ago.

- Well, I have no recollection

of three miles and two
hours ago. (laughing)

- you also told me your
car never breaks too!

- Almost never.
(both laughing)

come on, we're almost home,

and I've been told I make
a fabulous breakfast.

- Charles rolls was
a wealthy nobleman.

He lived a fantastically
privileged existence

and epitomized the young
rich man who looked at cars

and just thought,
"wow, that's exciting."

(laughing)

- [narrator] while millionaire
rolls is one of the few

who can afford european cars,

on a farm outside detroit,

henry ford dreams of
making cars for everyone.

- Automobiles at first were seen

as something that were
gonna be purchased

and used by the rich.

But in america, there was
this democratic mindset

that people ought to have
the same opportunities,

regardless of how
much money they had.

- [narrator] ford will
sell his first vehicle,

the quadricycle, for just $200,

the equivalent of $6,000 today.

And despite its
rock-bottom price,

ford's four-horsepower car

is more than five times as
powerful as the benz motorwagen.

But while henry ford
redefines affordability,

gottlieb daimler thinks
he can make a car

more powerful than
both ford and benz.

But with investors who
won't support his vision,

he's forced to do
something drastic:

Selling his share
of the company,

while keeping his
most valuable asset,

engineer wilhelm maybach.

- It's very hard to talk
about gottlieb daimler

without talking about maybach

because this was a real
partnership from the beginning.

- Maybach was really the
engineering genius

behind daimler.

- It should be
making more power.

- [narrator] using the money
from his share of the company,

daimler and maybach
set out to build

the world's most
powerful car engine.

- Here's the problem.

The carburetor.

- [narrator] but existing
technology is holding them back.

- To make an internal
combustion engine work,

you can't just dump
fuel into a cylinder

and get it to ignite.

You have to mix the fuel
and the air together.

So, the job of a carburetor
is very important

because that mix of fuel and air

is really crucial to an
engine's performance.

- If we can find a better
way to deliver the fuel,

we'll have it.

- How do we do that?

- (sighing) I don't know.

- [narrator] the pressure on
daimler to deliver intensifies

igniting a race among
hundreds of hopeful engineers

looking to cash in.

- Everybody was at it because

suddenly the horizons
had been peeled back

and people could see
what was possible.

- [narrator] to stand out from
the crowd, gottlieb daimler

gambles on creating the
world's most powerful engine.

- By the time we
get to the 1890s,

competition is springing
up all over europe.

So it became a bit of a
race to have the fastest car

with the most powerful engine.

- If we can find a better
way to deliver the fuel,

we'll have it.

- [narrator] but daimler
and maybach are struggling

until inspiration hits.

(gentle music)

- we're so close, its maddening.

Honestly, I feel...

(perfume bottle puffing)

(dramatic music)

- [narrator] maybach might
have found a solution,

delivering the fuel
in a fine mist.

- [maybach] so we, if
we atomize the fuel

into the carburetor, the
mixture is more precise.

- [narrator] maybach designs
a spray nozzle carburetor

that injects a fine
fuel mist into a chamber

where it mixes
thoroughly with air,

maximizing combustion.

- That wasn't just throwing
in large amounts of fuel

and hoping most
of it would burn.

It took a really big leap
of engineering technology.

- [narrator] the new
design provides hope

for a powerful new engine.

- [daimler] are we ready?

- [maybach] yes.

(tentative music)

- crank it up.

(engine rumbling)
(dramatic music)

30 foot pound.

- [narrator] by measuring
the engines rotational force.

- [daimler] 35.

- [narrator] they can
calculate its horsepower

and compare it to other engines.

- 40.

- Anytime you have a new
invention, you have to be able

to compare it to
something that's familiar.

So, the early automakers came up

with this idea of horsepower.

Comparing the power of an
automobile to the horse.

- 55.

60.

- 60 rpm.

Divided by, equals.

Eight.

(men laughing)

- eight horsepower!

- [narrator] daimler
and maybach new engine

has harnessed
unprecedented power.

Twice as much as any benz model.

- The idea that this device,

the size of a filing cabinet

could create the same amount
of power as eight horses

is truly remarkable.

- [narrator] the world's press

soon christen it, the phoenix.

- The technological achievements

helped make it the most
powerful engine in the world.

And people described it
as rising above the ashes

of all previous engines
that had been made.

- [narrator] at the core

is maybach's new spray
nozzle carburetor.

- That meant you could burn
the fuel more efficiently,

and that allows the car
to run farther and faster.

And it truly catapults the
automobile into the modern era.

- [narrator] daimler
licenses, the phoenix

to car makers all across europe.

Invigorated by the powerful
new engine racing takes off.

(dramatic music)

and in June, 1895, the
first official car race

takes place in France.

All of the finishers are
powered by daimler engines.

- Since the inception
of the automobile,

guys were racing each other.

And that was the
beginning of performance.

The evolution of
engines of brake systems

of suspension, of
improvements in cars.

- [narrator] daimler now has
what he needs most marketing.

- Even in the earliest days
of the automotive industry,

the brand was important.

And the brand of daimler
was a byword for quality

with a lot of power.

- [narrator] daimler
and maybach go on

to build the world's
first truck in 1896.

The first taxi in 1897

and a fleet of buses in 1898.

- This is what finally
makes the automobile

more capable than the horse.

The next challenge is how
do we make it affordable

so that the average
person can buy a car.

- [narrator] for now, it's
daimler's focus on power

that attracts his
most important client.

(lighter flicking)

austrian diplomat, race
driver and car salesman,

emil jellinek.

- Emil jellinek was
someone you wouldn't forget

if you saw him.

Had these massive mutton chops.

And he was willing to take risks

and get interested in new stuff,

which is of course what
led him into automobiles.

- He very quickly became
gottlieb daimler biggest

and most difficult customer.

- [narrator]
jellinek pushes them

to make super powerful engines

and race cars to put them in.

- For years motoring
had been puttering about

in the one to eight
horsepower's with the invention

of bigger engines, speed
became the new drug.

- [narrator] while daimler
targets super cars.

Carl benz's focus on simplicity

keeps him the undisputed
king of the industry.

- [bertha] everyone over here.

- [narrator] with a new factory
and streamlined production,

benz has buyers across
europe, the u.S.

And as far away as south
africa and singapore.

- Benz did what he set out
to do in the first place,

which was make vehicles
for people to use.

And he pulled it off.

- [narrator] by 1900, benz
has sold over 2000 cars,

making him the world's
top auto maker.

And with a company valued
at over three million marks,

the equivalent of some
$300 million today.

- [photographer]
one, two, three.

(flash pops)

- [narrator] it makes
him a very rich man.

But unlike benz,

gottlieb daimler will never
enjoy his successes.

- Gottlieb daimler was
an absolute workaholic.

He was working day and night

and it started to take
a toll on his health.

- He had poured his life
into this car company

and essentially worked
himself to death.

- [narrator] then just weeks
after losing its founder,

a daimler employee is killed
driving a prototype race car.

- Early racing was
absurdly dangerous.

The structure of
the car was tall.

The wheels were tall.

Engines were high.

So in a turn you're
very likely to tip.

Nothing about these
early race cars

was really designed for safety.

- [narrator] left
to run the company,

gottlieb's son, paul
and wilhelm maybach,

quit building race cars,

focusing instead
on passenger cars.

(dramatic music)

it's a decision not everyone
is willing to accept.

Most of all, their top
customer emil jellinek.

- It's not the horsepower
that's the problem.

It's the chassis.

The solution is
to build me a car

that's longer lower,
wider and lighter.

A car that'll work
with the engine

so that the driver can safely
handle even more horsepower.

I'm thinking 35.

- 35 horsepower was
a staggering number.

But he knew what he
was talking about.

And he knew that maybach
could design a car like that.

- I will personally
finance 36 of them.

- [narrator] it's enough
work to keep the company busy

for an entire year.

- At the turn of
the last century,

cars were made in a
laborious process by hand.

So to have one customer
order enough cars to fulfill

that factor's
workload for a year

had never been seen before.

It was an extraordinary
moment for daimler.

- Alright, you got
yourself a deal.

- Just one more
thing, gentlemen,

if you'll indulge me.

It would mean everything to me

if the car was named
after my daughter.

Mercedes.

- [narrator] but creating a
car that's both fast and safe

is no easy task.

- The whole layout changes.

- [narrator] at the dawn
of the 20th century,

industrial and
technological innovation

fuel worldwide growth.

From zeppelin's airship to
marconi's transatlantic radio,

travel and communication
are advancing at warp speed.

At the forefront of
that change, car makers.

- It's obvious to many people
in engineering and technology

that this is catching on.

It's a possible way to make
money, to start a business.

- [narrator] in
the united states,

a true auto industry is born.

As ransom old unveils
his first assembly line.

While henry ford enters
and wins his first race.

Securing the money to form
the ford motor company.

- I think what binds
these people together

is this shared passion
for the automobile,

and they're all a bit eccentric,

but they're all driven

by the singular goal

of a brighter tomorrow.

- Yes, sir, we will have it
ready for you by next week.

My office will be in touch.

Oh, absolutely.

- [narrator] competition in
the burgeoning car market

creates opportunities
for savvy salesmen,

like charles rolls.

- Charles rolls was not just
some dilettante playboy.

He was a person with a vision.

I think he understood
exactly what the potential

of the car could be.

- No, room for the
whole family, of course.

One for you in the misses then?

It's one of the smoothest rides

you're ever gonna experience.

For an old friend,
I would do anything.

- Charles rolls really
is in the right place

in british societies.

He's got these
fabulous contacts book

full of all the rich and famous.

And so he starts
selling them cars

and that quickly
builds his dealership.

- [narrator] but the real
profit isn't in reselling cars,

it's in making them.

- There's nothing in here.

- [narrator] and for
that, he'll need help.

(upbeat music)

- mcdermot?

- Early start today, sir?

- You could say that.

Late one for you.

- I'm sorry, sir.

What do you think?

- It looks very good.

Excellent as always, sir.

- It's perfect, actually.

You know why?

Because I was here all
night to make sure of it.

- As an engineer, henry
royce is a perfectionist.

He's obsessive.

He's probably a really
difficult guy to work for

but it's that
attention to detail

that really starts to
show through in the kind

of products he's creating.

- [mr. Royce] just be on time.

- Yes, mr. Royce, sir.

- [narrator] henry
royce's perfectionism

makes him good money
building cranes,

but it's cars that
truly inspire him.

- Henry royce actually
goes out and manages

to buy himself a couple of cars,

but he's really unimpressed
with what he sees.

His engineering brain kicks in.

And he says, I can do
a better job than this.

(upbeat music)

- [narrator]
meanwhile, at daimler,

wilhelm maybach is pushed
to the breaking point

by jellinek's demand for
a faster, yet safer car.

- Success in motor racing
cannot be underestimated

in terms of importance for
helping the road car business.

If you could be successful
in motor racing,

by having the most
powerful, most reliable,

the safest cars, more people
were likely to buy them.

- [narrator] to improve
both handling and safety,

maybach moves the engine forward

and seats the driver behind it.

- The whole layout change.

This was no longer something
based on these old ideas

of carriages and carts.

This was a whole new package.

- [narrator] it's revolutionary

and overwhelmingly challenging.

- It makes no sense,
I don't understand it.

We're lighter and we're lower.

- [narrator] but as power
increases, so does heat.

- Yes, but unless we cool the
engine, it doesn't matter.

- The earliest engines
basically had no cooling system.

So overheating was a huge
problem for early automobiles.

- [narrator] for the mercedes
to harness its full potential,

they'll need a whole
new way to cool it.

- Unless, we
maximize the airflow.

Honeycomb.

- That's good.

- [narrator] maybach
designs a honeycomb grill

on the front of the car

perforated with 8,000
cooling tubes.

As the car moves,
air flows across

the tubes huge surface area,

cooling the liquid inside
and the engine beyond.

(dramatic music)

maybach and daimler
work nonstop trying

to perfect their design.

And after just eight months,

jellinek demands
delivery of his new car.

- Mr. Jellinek.

The radiator for the mercedes,

it's done.

- [narrator] it's the birth
of the modern day radiator.

- It's solved the problem
of engines overheating

almost overnight.

The engines could become
a lot more powerful now.

They could become
much faster machines

and it really was a
springboard to another chapter

in the incredible
daimler engine story.

(jellinek chuckling)

- would you like to
see the rest of it?

- This way.

- [narrator] in December, 1901,

they deliver the
very first mercedes.

A car that hits
55 miles per hour,

sweeps race week in
the south of France

and sets the template
for car design worldwide.

- You look at the first
patent motor wagon,

it's a park bench
with some wheels.

The 35 horsepower, actually
you can recognize it as a car.

It was way more modern.

- It really
revolutionized everything.

And there was no reason to
build a car any other way

after this showed
what was possible.

- [narrator] soon, enthusiastic
surround the world

want their own modern car.

(dramatic music)

but in England...

(telephone ringing)

- there's a call
for you, mr. Rolls.

- [narrator] where charles
rolls is selling the top german

and french cars.

- Oh yes, mr. Cooper, it is
excellent to hear from you.

(mr. Rolls laughing)

and everything's going well
with the new car, I trust?

- [narrator] a new
english designer

is about to one-up them.

- You prefer a royce?

Well, the royce is the talk
of the town, mr. Cooper.

I'm gonna make a few calls
and see what I can do for you.

Goodbye.

What in god's name is a royce?

- [narrator] by 1901, paul
daimler and wilhelm maybach

have created the
first modern car,

ushering in a new era in
personal transportation

and a platform for
ever increasing power.

American william k. Vanderbilt

takes his 90 horsepower
mercedes to daytona,

where he hits 93 miles per hour.

Breaking the land speed record.

Racing wins lead to
skyrocketing sales for daimler.

(upbeat music)

but as car making progresses,

carl benz is determined
to stay the same.

- Carl benz was on
the top of the world

in terms of car sales.

He'd made a lot of
money from his invention

and his vision of getting
cars to more people

than anybody else had come true.

- [narrator] but
when the benz board

secretly hires french designers
to improve performance,

benz does something unheard of.

- Are you sure?

- Yes, it's time.

- He eventually
just stepped aside,

let the company continue on.

There was no dramatic failure.

There was no awful
end to this guy.

It actually worked out
surprisingly well for him.

- [narrator] after
nearly 20 years,

carl benz stops managing
the company he founded,

but keeps his shares,
a seat on the board

and his place in history.

(tentative music)

(snooker balls clicking)

just as benz walks away
from the competition,

henry royce is ready to join in.

- Could I get a pint, please?

- The car presented him
with both a challenge

and an opportunity.

A challenge to really
progress a new technology

and an opportunity to
put his name on something

of which could be
his lasting legacy.

- [narrator] though he's
made just a handful of cars,

his work has made him
a valuable target.

And charles rolls has
him in his sights.

- Henry royce?

How did you do it?

- Do what?

- That is the most amazing
car I've ever driven.

- That's very kind of you.

But there's still a lot of
work that needs to be done.

- Oh, clearly you're
a better engineer

than you are a salesman.

But that's where I come in.

- What do you mean,
where you come in?

- Could I get a glass
of champagne, please?

Oh, henry yesterday,
I couldn't believe

that there could be a
better car than a mercedes.

Now today, I believe
you can build one.

- Keep talking.

- It's a proposal, a company.

You production, me
marketing and sales,

but together making the best
car the world has ever seen.

- Now that sounds
like a challenge.

- Now, henry I'd give my
right arm just to be able

to sell a royce, but I
would give everything

to put my name on it.

- You had charles
who had the money.

He had the charm, but
he wasn't an engineer.

And then you had henry
royce who couldn't go out

and sell a car if his
life depended on it.

But he could design a car
that rolls could sell.

- I kind of liked
the sound of that.

Royce rolls.

- Actually I was
thinking rolls royce.

Alphabetical and all.

- [narrator] next time on
the cars that built the world.Rn

(car engine rumbling)

the automobile becomes
a part of everyday life.

- The

from crude machines
was incredibly fast.

- [narrator] as new companies.

- Bentley and bentley motorcars.

- [narrator] and new innovators.

- Congratulations, mr. Porsche.
(pronounced porsh)

- actually, it's porsche.

- [narrator] fight for
their place in the market.

- If we don't release
a new model now,

perfection won't matter.

- This is a period of very
aggressive competition

and the car world must've seemed

like the most
exciting place to be.

(dramatic music)

- [narrator] and in a modern
world shaped by conflict.

- World war I was
the first major war

in which the internal combustion
engine had been available.

- [man] gentlemen, our boys
just outran the germans.

- [narrator] an
explosion of car making

will push the boundaries
of technology.

- What we're building here
will be revolutionary.

- [narrator] and start
a new global industry.

(upbeat music)