What Renaissance machine designed by Leonardo da Vinci is often called the first automobile?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a self-propelled cart that is often called the first automobile.

The cart appears in drawings from around 1478 and was powered by coiled springs rather than an engine. The springs drove the wheels through a system of gears, while steering could be set in advance. This made the machine capable of moving without a person pushing it continuously.

Leonardo’s cart was probably intended for theatrical displays or court entertainment rather than transportation. Its programmed movement also makes it an early example of mechanical automation. Because the surviving drawings do not show every construction detail, modern reconstructions have helped test how the mechanism may have operated.

Calling it an automobile is convenient but technically modern. It did not use an internal-combustion engine, and it could travel only a limited distance. Its significance is that it anticipated self-moving vehicles centuries before motor cars appeared.