What self-propelled vehicle did Leonardo da Vinci sketch centuries before the modern automobile?

Leonardo da Vinci sketched a self-propelled cart that is often considered an early design for an automobile.

The cart appears in drawings from the late fifteenth century and was powered by coiled springs rather than an engine. The springs drove gears connected to the wheels, allowing the vehicle to move without being pushed by a person or pulled by an animal. A steering mechanism was also included in the design.

The cart was probably intended for theatrical or ceremonial use rather than transportation. It may have been designed to move across a stage during court festivities, where an automatically moving object would have created a striking effect. Leonardo’s surviving drawings do not provide every construction detail, so historians and engineers have interpreted parts of the mechanism differently.

It is not accurate to call the cart a modern car. It had no combustion engine, electric motor, or road-going purpose. Its significance is that it shows an early attempt to combine stored mechanical energy, gearing, steering, and wheels in one vehicle.