Although most historians agree the birth of the modern car came about in the late 19th century when two Germans, Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz, designed real, working internal combustion engines, experiments with moving vehicles weren't uncommon beforehand. As far back as 1770, a Frenchman named Nicolas Cugnot developed a steam-powered machine, the Fardier, which could crawl through the streets of Paris at about two miles per hour. It was more than 500 years ago, however -- sometime around the year 1478 to be more or less specific -- when Leonardo drew out his plans for the world's first self-propelled vehicle.
Unlike Henry Ford's Model T in the early 1900s, Leonardo's car wasn't designed for mass-production. It wasn't truly a passenger car, since it didn't even have a seat. The vehicle was actually designed as a special attraction for Renaissance festivals, meant to instill wonder and awe in attendees. Like many of Leonardo's sketches, however, the car remained on paper throughout his lifetime -- we can only speculate that the machine was either considered too dangerous to operate or the inventor didn't have adequate materials to build it.