What was Leonardo da Vinci’s wheeled device designed to move without a person or animal pulling it?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a self-propelled cart that could move without a person or animal pulling it.

The compact three-wheeled machine appears in drawings from around 1478 to 1480. Two rear wheels were driven by coiled springs, while a small front wheel helped steer the cart. The springs could be wound before release, allowing stored mechanical energy to turn the wheels.

Leonardo may have intended the device for theatrical performances or court spectacles rather than transport. Because the original machine has not survived, historians reconstruct its operation from the drawings and related notes. Modern replicas have demonstrated that the basic mechanism can work.

The cart is sometimes described as the world’s first automobile, but that phrase can mislead. It had no combustion engine and could travel only a limited distance after its springs were wound. Its significance is that it is an early documented example of an autonomous, mechanically powered vehicle.