The carburetor is the part of the car combines air and fuel to create combustion. Before the creation of fuel-injected engines, the carburetor functioned as the main way to deliver fuel to the engine. The automobile industry ceased putting carburetors in cars by the mid-1990s.
Even though Karl Benz invented the carburetor in 1885 and patented the device in 1886, there is some doubt whether he actually created it. Some believe a pair of Hungarian engineers also invented the carburetor.
In 1896, Frederick William constructed the first car to run on gasoline in Birmingham, England.
In 1900, a subsequent version of William's car, but using two cylinders rather than one, did a 1,000-mile trip, proving the worth of the carburetor.
Until the advent of the fuel-injected engine in the 1980s, all cars used the carburetor as a key part of their design. Carburetors are still used in cars made for racing.
The last American cars to use a carburetor were the Buick Estate Wagon and the Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser.
