Why do internal combustion engines need gearboxes?
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The cylinders in an internal combustion engine must fire fast to keep the engine turning constantly. Generally it must turn at a very minimum of around 80-120RPM (revolutions per minute) but up to several thousand RPM for high performance engines.
There are very few uses for such high (native) speeds of rotation (direct drive prop airplanes being a notable exception), so gears (and other [reduction drive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduction_drive) systems, such as belts) let you convert those speeds to more manageable and useful speeds.
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