Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot demonstrates a steam-powered artillery tractor…

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot demonstrates a steam-powered artillery tractor in France in 1769.

He is believed to have built the first self-propelled mechanical vehicle, but this claim is disputed by some sources, which suggest that Ferdinand Verbiest, as a member of a Jesuit mission in China, may have been the first to build a 'car' around 1672.