A small carriage propelled by a steam turbine powered engine was apparently invented by Ferdinand Verbiest, a Belgian, in 1672 while in China. It is argued that this constitutes the first 'car' ever invented, but the design was only 65cm long, had no seats or pilot controls, and was intended as little more than a toy. Further, there is little evidence that the invention was ever actually built.
Nicholas Cugnot, a French inventor who had dabbled with the concept of steam-propelled vehicles for the French Army since 1765, built a self-propelled, three-wheeled carriage powered by a reciprocating steam engine. A small version of this was working in 1769, and the first full-size version was built a year later. It possessed many of the characteristics that define a car as we know it today, being self-propelled, pilot-able, and designed for the carriage of persons.
The 'fardier' was intended to manage a rate of approximately three miles per hour with a five ton load in order to keep pace with troops on foot, and was expected to be able to run for over an hour at a time. In practice it rarely achieved this.
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