What type of vehicle did Leonardo da Vinci design using stored spring power?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a self-propelled cart powered by stored spring energy.

The machine appears in drawings from around 1478 to 1480 and is often described as an early ancestor of the automobile. Two large, coiled springs stored energy, while a system of gears transferred that energy to the wheels. A steering mechanism also allowed the cart to follow a programmed route.

Unlike a modern car, Leonardo’s cart had no combustion engine, electric motor, or rechargeable battery. Its movement came from mechanical energy wound into the springs before operation. The vehicle may have been intended for theatrical performances or court spectacles rather than transport or warfare.

The cart’s exact construction remained uncertain for centuries because Leonardo’s drawings did not provide every measurement. In 2006, researchers at the Museo Galileo in Florence built a working model based on the surviving plans. The reconstruction demonstrated that the mechanism could move, although it did not prove that Leonardo built the original.