Ferdinand Budicki

Ferdinand Budicki

Ferdinand Budicki (11 April 1871 – 25 June 1951) was a Croatian pioneer of car, bicycle and airplane culture. An inhabitant of Zagreb, Croatia, Budicki was reportedly the first to drive a car in his home city, and the first to open a car dealership and repair shop in Croatia. In April 1901, he drove from Vienna, Austria to Zagreb in a 1899 Opel, stirring up a commotion, as people and horses that drew carriages at the time were not used to motor vehicles, even though the car's top speed was, according to Budicki, a mere 30 km/h (19 mph).

Ferdinand Budicki was born on 11 April 1871 in Zagreb to Marija (née Panian) and Ferdinand Budicki. His parents were renowned craftspeople. Having completed two grades of Realschule, Budicki first trained for a locksmith, then studied mechanics abroad. Living in Vienna, he assembled his own bicycle, which he used in 1897 to travel throughout Europe and northern Africa, reportedly transversing 17,323 kilometres (10,764 mi). In 1901, he purchased a used car from Opel & Beyschlag factory in Vienna for 4,000 Austro-Hungarian crowns. He was taught to drive by Otto Beyschlag and received extra training in the form of observing an electric tram driver at work. He subsequently drove the car from Vienna to Zagreb and the next year he travelled the same route by motorcycle. In 1905 he flew a hot air balloon, landing near Velika Gorica, today a suburb of Zagreb. Whether he was the first car driver in Zagreb is disputed, as an Obzor article claims Count Marko Bombelles Jr. from Varaždin drove to Zagreb in a Benz & Cie. car on 17 August 1899.

On 28 August 1901, Budicki received his driving licence in Vienna. In 1910, Zagreb started to issue its own driving licences. Budicki's license was not recognised, so he took a driving examination on 27 July 1910 and received the licence with serial number 1. However, as none of the examination committee members knew how to drive, Budicki had to teach them before the examination. Budicki was also the first to receive a traffic ticket, for speeding on 6 June 1901 in Mavrova Street (today's Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Street).

Budicki entered the business of new vehicles by opening a bicycle and sewing machine shop called K touristu ("At the Tourist's") at Mavrova Street 24 in 1899. In the early 1900s, the shop began selling cars and motorcycles as well. On 1 June 1906, Budicki founded the first Croatian Automobile Society, which opened with 14 members. From 1910 to 1928 he was the general distributor for Ford in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. In 1929, he started a taxicab and a bus line from Zagreb to Sv. Ivan Zelina. Later that year he had to exit the automobile business due to the stock market crash of 1929, retaining only a car repair shop.

Budicki died on 25 June 1951 at the age of 80.

On 4 July 2013, the Ferdinand Budicki Automobile Museum was opened in Zagreb, honouring Budicki's pioneering legacy in its name. In Zagreb, there is a Ferdinand Budicki Street in the neighbourhood of Jarun. Budicki is also remembered as the founder of Zagreb Fair and hr.