The first car built in Russia: the Yakovlev & Freze

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Russian automobile history is not very well known to us, although as early as 1896 the first Russian-built automobile with an internal combustion engine was exhibited at the Nizhny Novgorod Art Exhibition. An important milestone that has not received the recognition it actually deserves.

As is often the case in the history of the automobile, its origin lies in the Benz Velocipede, which was exhibited by Karl Benz at the World Exhibition in Chicago in 1893.

Eugene Yakovlev

Eugene Yakovlev, born in 1859, had an illustrious career in the Russian Navy until 1884, when he quit for family reasons. He was an inventor and held several patents for kerosine and gas-powered engines before he began experimenting with his own internal combustion engine.

He showed the first Russian internal combustion engine with liquid fuel at the VIII Congress of the Russian Society of Naturalists. The engine was a success and received two dozen orders that same year.

In 1891 Yakovlev established an engine factory in St. Petersburg. Three years later, in 1894, the company reached a turnover of 770,000 roubles. The factory produced internal combustion engines that ran on oil, gas and petrol for industrial heating and ventilation.

He presented his products at the famous World's Fair in Chicago in 1893, where he was awarded the bronze medal. And it was here that Yakovlev and Pyotr Freze, a Russian coachbuilder, met. They were both so impressed with the Benz Velocipede that they decided there and then to work together to build their own car.

Iakowleff-Frese

The Yakovlev & Freze car (also written as Iakowleff-Frese) was a four-wheeled vehicle (the front two slightly smaller), equipped with a horizontal mono-cylinder four-stroke internal combustion engine at the rear of the vehicle. The engine, which was very similar to the Benz, produced 2hp and was water-cooled by two copper heat exchangers placed along the sides of the rear of the vehicle. The ignition was electric, coming from an innovative dry battery and a patented spark plug. Traction was provided by a tyre with multiple layers of rubber and fabric (instead of the traditional leather tyre), and the transmission had a forward and reverse gear. The car accommodated two passengers.

There were two braking systems: one on the foot, which operated on the transmission shaft, and the other on the hand, which was pressed onto the tyres of the rear wheels by means of rubber sticks. The wheels, like the horse-drawn carts, were made of wooden spokes and had solid rubber tyres. It could reach a speed of 21km/h (13mph). It weighed about 300kg and had a full tank with an autonomy of about 10 hours.

After the show, the car was advertised and further developed. However, not long after, in 1898, Yakovlev died unexpectedly, and with him, any further success of this car brand ceased.

As far as we know, there are no original Yakovlev & Freze cars excisting today, only a replica.

Sources: Russian Life, Book: Cars of Legends: first cars of history by Jorge Lucendo, Wikipedia and Pos1t1ve.

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