If you want to know when was the first car invented, I’ll have to take you back to the 17th century in China. A Belgian missionary named Ferdinand Verbiest invented what is regarded as the first car.
He designed the car specially for the use of the Emperor of China.
Verbiest was living in China as a missionary, but he was evidently quite a brilliant inventor as well.
The first car measured roughly 65 cm long, and because it was so small, it could only carry one person, who was as a result both the passenger and the driver!
The first car was invented to make use of steam technology, where the jet of steam hit a mechanism that used the steam’s force to turn the front wheels of the car. So the first car was also the first environmentally friendly vehicle as well.
Verbiest tested his invention in the Imperial Palace in Beijing. So we can say that the first car test drive was another achievement of Verbiest. He was able to maneuver the vehicle using a a stick from the wheels to the driver’s seat, that allowed him to turn the wheels of the car towards the left or right.
The test drive was a big success, and onlookers cheered and praised the inventor. Even the Emperor was very impressed, and awarded the inventor with honors.
Unfortunately, the first car to be invented was never considered more than a toy, and the people of the age could not envision the possibility of using it for mass transport. So Verbiest’s invention never made it beyond that first prototype.