Leonardo da Vinci’s self-propelled cart was designed to move itself using wound springs and is often called the first self-propelled cart.
Leonardo sketched the mechanism around 1478–1480. Large coiled springs supplied the energy, while a system of gears transferred that energy to the wheels. The front steering arrangement could be set in advance, allowing the cart to follow a predetermined path.
The design may have been intended for theatrical performances or court spectacles rather than transportation. It had no internal-combustion engine and was not an automobile in the modern sense. Its motion came from stored mechanical energy.
A full-scale reconstruction was built in 2006 by researchers and technicians in Florence. The replica demonstrated that the design could move, supporting the interpretation that Leonardo had created a workable automaton-like vehicle rather than only an artistic fantasy.