What was the first car?

A Quick History of the Automobile for Young People. by William W. Bottorff. Several Italians recorded designs for wind driven vehicles. The first was Guido da Vigevano in 1335. It was a windmill type drive to gears and thus to wheels. Vaturio designed a similar vehicle which was also never built. read more

The early history of the automobile can be divided into a number of eras, based on the prevalent means of propulsion. Later periods were defined by trends in exterior styling, size, and utility preferences. In 1769 the first steam-powered automobile capable of human transportation was built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot. read more

Company History Benz Patent Motor Car: The first automobile (1885–1886) The first stationary gasoline engine developed by Carl Benz was a one-cylinder two-stroke unit which ran for the first time on New Year’s Eve 1879. read more

Many suggest that he created the first true automobile in 1885/1886. Below is a table of some automobile firsts, compiled from information in Leonard Bruno's book Science and Technology Firsts (Detroit, c1997) and ThoughtCo.’s History of the Automobile. read more