What kind of cart did Leonardo da Vinci design to move without being pushed or pulled by an animal?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a self-propelled cart powered by coiled springs rather than by a horse or another animal.

The machine is usually described as an early ancestor of the automobile. Two large springs stored mechanical energy, and a transmission system released that energy to turn the cart’s wheels. A steering mechanism and a programmed stopping feature also appear in reconstructions of the design.

Leonardo’s drawing dates from the late fifteenth century, centuries before practical cars powered by internal-combustion engines. The cart was probably intended for theatrical or ceremonial use, where it could make a controlled movement across a stage or courtyard.

It is sometimes called the world’s first car, but that label can mislead. Leonardo did not create a motor vehicle in the modern sense, and the original machine’s exact operation remains partly interpretive because the surviving design is incomplete. Modern replicas have shown that the concept can move under spring power.