What Leonardo da Vinci machine is often described as the first self-propelled vehicle?

Leonardo da Vinci’s self-propelled cart is often described as the first self-propelled vehicle.

Leonardo designed the cart around 1478–1480. Springs wound inside the vehicle supplied the energy, while mechanisms resembling clockwork controlled the wheels. A programmable steering system, using blocks or shaped cams, could set the cart to follow a predetermined path. The design may have been intended for theatrical displays rather than transport.

The cart had no engine and carried no passengers in its original concept. Its importance lies in its use of stored mechanical energy and automatic control. In 2006, engineers at the Museo Galileo in Florence built a working reconstruction based on Leonardo’s drawings. The cart is sometimes linked with Leonardo’s mechanical lion, but that was a separate automaton designed for ceremonial presentation.