Leonardo da Vinci’s wheeled machine from around 1478–1480 is known as the self-propelled cart.
The cart was designed to move without being pushed by a person or pulled by an animal. Its motion came from coiled springs concealed inside the frame, while a steering system helped determine its path. The surviving drawing gives the machine the appearance of a compact, spring-powered vehicle.
The design was probably intended for theatrical or ceremonial use rather than ordinary transport. It may have been able to travel a limited distance, but Leonardo’s surviving material does not prove that he built a fully working version. A modern reconstruction demonstrated that the mechanism could operate.
It is often described as an ancestor of the automobile, but it was not a motorcar in the modern sense. It had no internal-combustion engine and relied on stored mechanical energy from springs.