Leonardo da Vinci designed his self-propelled cart in 1478.
The cart was a small vehicle powered by wound springs rather than by an animal or a person pushing it. Leonardo’s drawings show large driving wheels, smaller front wheels, and a mechanism that transferred spring power to the wheels. The vehicle could be set to follow a predetermined route, making it an early example of programmable mechanical motion.
Because the cart could move without a visible driver, historians often describe it as an early robot or an ancestor of the modern automobile. It was probably intended for theatrical or ceremonial use, where a moving object could surprise an audience.
The 1478 date comes from Leonardo’s notebook material. A working reconstruction was made centuries later, and different reconstructions have used slightly different interpretations of the surviving design. The cart should therefore be understood as a remarkable mechanical concept, not as a mass-produced car.