Author: staff@jalopnik.com (Brittany Crow)

Danny Bakker/Shutterstock When most individuals consider diesel engines, they often picture heavy-duty trucks and locomotives — or they could recall Volkswagen’s Dieselgate scandal – but diesel power actually made its passenger automotive debut nearly a century ago. While the 1936 Mercedes-Benz 260 D is commonly credited as the primary production automotive with a diesel engine, the complete story goes back a bit farther and includes earlier prototypes — plus a surprise appearance from a French automaker. The diesel engine takes its moniker from its inventor, Rudolf Diesel, who patented his first-of-its-kind compression ignition engine within the Eighteen Nineties. Unlike gasoline engines, which use spark…