Leonardo da Vinci's Automobile

Around 1478, Leonardo da Vinci drew in his notebooks a strange cart able to move on its own. Preserved in the Codex Atlanticus, at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, the sketch long remained a puzzle for historians.

The vehicle has neither engine nor horse: it is driven by leaf springs wound up like those of a clock. A system of brakes and gears releases the energy gradually, and cams make it possible to program its route in advance. It was probably a stage automaton, intended for court festivities rather than transport.

It was not until 2004 that researchers at the Museum of the History of Science in Florence managed to build a working replica, based on the work of historian Carlo Pedretti. The cart does indeed travel a few dozen metres. Five centuries before the birth of the automobile, Leonardo had already imagined its principle: a machine that moves by itself and follows the route set for it.