Leonardo da Vinci designed an armored car with a conical body and hidden gears for warfare.
Leonardo’s fighting vehicle was drawn around 1487–1489. It resembles a covered, circular platform with sloped armor and a ring of light cannons around its exterior. The sloping shell was intended to deflect incoming fire, while the weapons could be aimed outward in several directions.
The vehicle was designed to be moved by crews turning cranks connected to gears. A famous detail in the drawing is that the gearing appears to make the vehicle move in the wrong direction. Historians debate whether this was an error, a deliberate flaw to prevent unauthorized construction, or simply an unresolved engineering problem.
Calling it a “tank” is understandable but technically modern. Leonardo’s machine was a proposed armored fighting vehicle, not a motorized tank with an engine, tracks, and a modern crew arrangement. It was never built for Renaissance battlefields.