What wheeled invention did Leonardo da Vinci design to move without an animal pulling it?

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

The cart appears in drawings from around 1478 to 1480 and used springs to store mechanical energy. Gears transferred that energy to the wheels, while a steering mechanism could determine the route. The machine was probably intended for theatrical effects or court festivities rather than transportation.

The cart is sometimes described as an early automobile because it moved under its own stored power. That comparison is useful but limited: it had no engine, fuel system, brakes, or passenger compartment like a modern car. Its energy came from wound springs, similar in principle to clockwork.

In 2006, a team in Florence built a working model based on Leonardo's drawings. The reconstruction showed that the mechanism could operate, although some details had to be interpreted because the original sketches do not provide a complete modern-style blueprint.