Who invented the automobile?

Karl Benz, a German inventor, is credited with inventing the first commercially-available, gasoline-powered automobile in 1885. It consisted of a tubular steel frame with an electric coil ignition, differential rear-end gears, rack and pinion steering and a cooling system based on evaporation. Its top speed was 8 mph.

The history of the invention of the automobile dates as far back as the 15th century when Leonardo DaVinci created designs for transport vehicles. The first self-propelled road vehicle with a steam engine was invented in 1769 by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot of France. In the 1830s Robert Anderson from Scotland invented the first electric automobile.