Some history

The differential gear for vehicles was invented in 1827 by the Frenchman Onésiphore Pecquer. Pecquer’s différentiel mécanique was used in steampowered vehicles and was therefore already known when cars with internal combustion engines showed up at the end of the 19th century.

Pecquer probably came up with the idea for a differential gear while he was learning watchmaking as a young man. Some wrist watches use differential gears and these were invented in 1720 by one Joseph Williamson.

Karl Benz was the first motoring engineer to use differential gears in cars as we know them today, but his diff was based on a different invention to Pecquer’s – a chain driven device patented by the Brit James Starley in 1876.