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In the early 20th century, major European cities had thousands of cars that slowly began to dominate over horses and carriages as a future modern means of transport. Unlike them, Zagreb was a peaceful and quiet city on the edge of an Austro-Hungarian province, whose peace was only disturbed by horses, horse-drawn wagons, omnibuses, carriages and an occasional bicyclist. The first scheduled horse-drawn omnibus service was introduced in 1844. As a means of public city transport, it carried passengers from the Railway Station to the Tri Gavrana  and Caru Austrijanskom hotels. In summertime, they drove to the Sava River. Their speed was 8 km/h and they carried up to 30 passengers. A return trip on the dusty road took half an hour and cost 10 kreuzer. An omnibus could had entrances on all sides, with the driver in the front, and a roof could be put up in case of rain. 

The first car appeared on the streets of Zagreb in 1901. Slavoljub Penkala, a resident of Zagreb, invented the mechanical pencil and fountain pen in 1906.

In 1901, Ferdinand Budicki of Zagreb brought the first Opel car to Zagreb and opened “The First Mechanical Workshop and Store for Cars, Bicycles, Sewing Machines and Record Players” in Zagreb. By 1928, he was selling Opel, Ford, Ultramobile, Overland and Daimler cars, bicycles, and Johann Puch and Laurin Klement motorcycles. He organized car repair, sewing and quick cooking courses. Tadija Bartolović brought a Nesselsdorfer taxi carriage to Zagreb.  Ivan Dirnbacher sold and serviced cars in Zagreb. The Meštrović brothers brought three Bolee cars to Zadar.

In 1914, Alma Blley passed her driving test in an Opel and became the first Croatian female driver. 90 cars and a population of 85000 were registered in Zagreb, compared to 7000 cars in Vienna and 9000 cars in Berlin.

In 1914, Alma Blley passed her driving test in an Opel and became the first Croatian female driver. 90 cars and a population of 85000 were registered in Zagreb, compared to 7000 cars in Vienna and 9000 cars in Berlin.
 

There were 200 registered cars in Zagreb in 1920. The Car Drivers Club was established in Zagreb.

In the beginning, motoring was related to elite motor sports, years away from any serious traffic. In 1913, Zagreb had a population of 120000. 269 cars, 22 buses and 69 motorcycles were registered in Croatia. At the same time, Vienna had 7000 cars and Berlin had 9000. Austro-Hungarian car races encouraged the development of motoring culture in Croatia – in 1908, 1911, 1913 and 1914 these races ran through Croatia and its residents had their first opportunity to see a large number of cars in a single place.

The first Ferdinand Budicki’s car was a 2-year-old Opel that cost 20 average monthly salaries, which clearly shows what a privilege and exclusivity a car was. Barons, counts, noblemen, factory owners, mayors, architects, doctors and merchants and their chauffeurs built a whole new world, embodied in the Croatian Automobile Club established in 1906 in Zagreb, only 8 years after the first car appeared.

According to the 1910 census, Zagreb had a population of 79 038, with 6470 people working in industry. Electrification of the tramway network began. Ilica was paved from Jelačić Square to Mesnička Street, as the first street in Zagreb to be paved. Slavoljub Penkala flew for several dozen meters at the Črnomerec airstrip in an aircraft designed by himself. That same, year, Edvard Rusijan was the first to fly an airplane over Zagreb. In 1911, the first Zagreb phonebook was printed, listing approximately 2000 subscribers.

There were 200 registered cars in Zagreb in 1920. The Car Drivers Club was established in Zagreb.

In 1938, 3030 passenger vehicles and 1325 freight vehicles were imported from Germany to Yugoslavia. Recording a 50% growth, Germany pushed out the USA from the number one car manufacturer position.