First Car Ever Made

Hundreds of car companies ... thousands of models ... but have you ever wondered which was the first car that was ever made? In this Buzzle article, we will put forth the details of the invention of car.

The broad―and somewhat vague―definition of the term 'car' makes it difficult to say which was the first ever car in the world. If we go by the definition which states that a car is 'a motor vehicle with four wheels', we will have to include cars with steam engines. Add to it usually propelled by an internal combustion engine, and the concept gets a whole new meaning. In the end, you need to take all the definitions into consideration to come up with the best answer.Which was the World's First Car?The history of the automobile industry can be traced back to a toy car built by the Flemish Jesuit missionary, Ferdinand Verbiest for the Chinese emperor way back in 1672. Even though this steam powered vehicle didn't facilitate human transportation, it had the distinction of being the first self-propelled vehicle in the world. It took over a century for the development of a vehicle that could actually facilitate human transportation. It was developed by the French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769 and was used by the French army.

It took another century for internal combustion engine-equipped vehicle to make its debut. In the meanwhile, the decade of 1830s marked the invention of an electric vehicle, which was developed by the Scottish inventor Robert Anderson. The fact that this crude vehicle was powered by non-rechargeable primary cells proved to be a major hindrance in its promotion, as the heavy maintenance it required kept people away from it. Read more