What Leonardo da Vinci invention was a wheeled vehicle that could move without being pushed by a horse?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a self-propelled cart that could move without being pushed by a horse.

The cart appears in Leonardo’s notes from the late fifteenth century. Its movement was powered by coiled springs hidden inside drums, with gears transmitting the stored energy to the wheels. A steering mechanism was also incorporated into the design, making it more than a simple rolling platform.

The machine is sometimes called Leonardo’s automobile because it resembles a very early vehicle. That label can be misleading: it had no engine, fuel system, or combustion motor. It was a spring-powered mechanism intended for theatrical or ceremonial movement rather than road transport.

A working reconstruction was built in the early 2000s by Italian researchers using Leonardo’s drawings. The replica demonstrated that the design could move, although the original plans leave some details open to interpretation.