‘World’s First Automobile’ Was Invented In 1770, But People Preferred The Horse
Image via Joe deSousa / Flickr (public domain)
Although cars came to be a common mode of transport in the early 20th century, if you were to consider what makes up an automobile—which is a full-size, functioning, self-propelled mechanical land vehicle—the very first of them was invented back in the 1700s.
As described by Amusing Planet, via Neatorama, Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot was a trained military engineer who was sought by the army to build a steam-powered wagon just for hauling cannon. A working prototype was ready in 1769, and the full-sized version arrived in 1770. Cugnot called the automobile a fardier à vapeur, named after the fardier, a two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for heavy equipment.
This was autonomous driving for the yesteryears. The steerable wagon didn’t need a horse, which was replaced by a front wheel attached to a copper boiler and the driving mechanism. It is believed that the fardier à vapeur could drive at a speed of about two miles per hour.
Photo 65794274 © Mastroraf | Dreamstime.com
Unfortunately, the design was flawed—poor weight distribution made it unstable and extremely challenging for it to travel up steep areas and across rough terrain, a requisite for the military.
Further, the need to refuel the automobile with fire and steam every quarter of an hour heavily hindered its speed. There was little reason for the army to use it in place of the overall speedier horse-drawn carts.
Interestingly, the fardier à vapeur might have been at the center of the world’s first motor vehicle accident, as well. Although unconfirmed, rumor has it that, in 1771, a second complete automobile swerved from its path and collided into the Arsenal wall.
The vehicle didn’t attain the success it was envisioned to have, but King Louis XV was so intrigued, he granted the inventor a pension of 600 livres a year to award him for the innovation. You gotta pay creators, right?
In 1880, the automobile was brought to the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, where it currently resides.
[via Neatorama and Amusing Planet, images via various sources]
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