Yep, it's basically the worlds first car, the Fardier de Cugnot! Built in France in 1770!!
Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot became the first automobile engineer when his steam powered Fardier (wheeled cart) became the first self-propelled vehicle. He had to design and build the first steam engine, where steam, at a higher pressure than atmospheric pressure, drove a piston in a cylinder. He also invented a rotary valve activated by the piston to let the steam in and out of the machine's two cylinders. The vehicle was demonstrated in France in 1770, pulling a five-ton artillery cannon.
The original Fardier de Cugnot has been in the collection of the Le Conservatoire de Arts et Metiers, Paris, France since 1801. Currently on display is one reproduction Fardier on loan from the Deutsche Ban Museum in Nuremberg, Germany, as well as a completely functional, faithful reproduction that was created from the ground-up by The Tampa Bay Auto Museum.
The engineers from Polypack and TBAUTO have given a new lease on life to the Fardier de Cugnot. This is the first time that Nicolas Cugnot's Fardier has run in over 200 years!
Click here to see the Cugnot Drive!I think it's going to overheat ... but wait, that's the idea, isn't it?!
