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The First Car in Rio de Janeiro Arrived in 1897, Caused Astonishment on the Streets and Ended Its Journey in an Unusual Accident
In 1897, an unusual scene marked the beginning of the era of automobiles in Rio de Janeiro. The journalist and abolitionist José do Patrocínio was returning from Paris with a novelty: the first car in the city. It was a steam-powered tricycle created by the Frenchman Léon Serpollet. The vehicle arrived disassembled and was reassembled in Brazil with expectation and curiosity.
Patrocínio was known for his boldness and enthusiasm. When presenting the automobile, he did not hold back his words. “I bring from Paris a steam car… The Vehicle of the Future, my friends. A marvel!,” he said, promising that the vehicle would make the trip from Largo do São Francisco to Alto da Tijuca in just half an hour. For him, that invention would put an end to the tílburis, streetcars, and even the railway.
The people of Rio, accustomed to animal-drawn transportation, were astonished. The chronicler João do Rio, in “The Era of the Automobile,” recorded the reaction of the people: “People with umbrellas under their arms stopped in shock, as if they had seen a creature from Mars or a device of immediate death.”
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Among the first guests to experience the new vehicle was Olavo Bilac. A personal friend of Patrocínio, the poet took the wheel of the Serpollet despite having no experience with automobiles.
Patrocínio sat in the passenger seat, which was on the left, as vehicles followed the English standard at the time.
The plan was to go from Botafogo to the Estrada Velha da Tijuca. But the journey lasted little. The car managed to reach about 4 km/h before Bilac lost control at the first turn.
The Serpollet crashed into a tree. Neither Bilac nor Patrocínio were injured, but the vehicle suffered serious damage.
Years later, the writer Coelho Neto recalled the scene with a comedic tone in the newspaper “Correio da Manhã.”
According to him, the car even got stuck in a pit and had to be towed with oxen and chains. Abandoned, the automobile rusted and became a shelter for chickens. In the end, it was sold as scrap metal.
The episode marked not only the debut of cars in the city but also the first recorded accident.
With information from Quatro Rodas.
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