The oldest photograph of a car in Ukraine has been found

These days, the Historical Automobile Club has published new facts that shed light on the development of automobile traffic in our country. This is the oldest photograph of a car in the territory of modern Ukraine. It depicts a Benz Velo, the first car in Mykolaiv, which appeared there at the end of 1896. It has been confirmed that this car, number 487, was shipped from a German factory in Mannheim on November 20 of the same year.

It should be noted that previously, the oldest photograph of a car in Ukraine that has survived to this day was considered to be a photograph of Baron von Meck's Daimler Phoenix, dated 1898.

The Benz Velo was the only car in Nikolaev for a long time. The second one appeared here only in 1901. It was a car from the manufacturer Cudell from the German city of Aachen, equipped with a licensed De Dion-Bouton engine. It was purchased by the famous zoologist Mykola Leontovich from the Odessa dealer Ferdinand Zorn.

In 1901, Leontovych traveled by car to Kherson and entered the history of that city as the first motorist. Unfortunately, on April 1, 1902, the car was damaged in a fire during maintenance. This fact was documented in a local newspaper of the time.