We have already gone far back in history, perhaps neglecting the over 2000 years old history of the carriage too much. It is clearly not an automobile, but it is based on its technology, was often used in the early days of car technology. It is probably not enough to talk about the Romans with their bodies separated from the chassis by leather straps. By the way, their suspension significantly more advanced than their brakes. Down the hill, a beam must be pushed across the spoke wheels of an axle to prevent the valuable draught horses from rolling over.

Leonardo da Vinci, the name already reveals where he comes from. Born in 1461, he was attracted to Florence at a young age, the city of the Medici, which was considered 'cosmopolitan' at the time. Without an adequate school education, he was given at least three years of training as an artist, which includes extensive technical practice and introduction to the then leading sciences. According to a resulting demand, Leonardo was now able to change from painter to inventor.

The self-propelled car is actually conceived as a vehicle for theatre scenes at the Milan court. Therefore the space-saving drive, on which with a cover perhaps a child or a light person can sit. It is a tricycle with lockable steerable front wheel. The vehicle is driven by two large cogwheels, each of which is loaded by spiral springs. Before each ride, these must be wound up individually. The torque is transmitted separately to the rear wheels via further wooden gear wheels, so that the car can also drive through fixed curves.

In order not to transfer the different force of the springs in more or less tensioned state to the driving speed, a kind of brake system with the help of two levers with ropes and two brake arms was installed. It is even adjustable. The levers act in their extension on knobs on the top of the two large cogwheels. More or less of these knobs can be used. It is referred as a widely 'programmable' braking effect.

Like all inventions, this one, which is quite elaborately executed for its simple purpose, is also based on models, some of which date back to antiquity. The beginning of printing books made it for da Vinci easier to get more knowledge about it. These possibilities perhaps could be compared with the Internet of today. In addition, he illustrated books of famous inventors and learned therefore additional.

This is in any case a mechanically driven coach from the circus blacksmith and inventor Jakob Hautsch 1649 in Nuremberg. The literature about it is not consistent. On the one hand, it is claimed that four hidden men moved the car forward with the help of cranks, on the other hand one assumes pretensioned springs as with da Vinci, maybe even both.

Vehicles powered by muscle power had a long tradition even then. In the Greek times they were used e.g. for military operations. You also can think of ships of the Romans and/or galleys. There existed tricycles for gout patients to be driven by hand via a crank to the only front wheel. The first submarines driven in this way are also famous.

The picture above shows the much more important wind power at that time, but here not for a ship, but for a land vehicle. It is astonishing that the reaction to climate change is leading us to the construction of sailing ships again, e.g. four-masted ships with which huge sails can be set at the push of a button.

A short detour back to muscle power: Here is the running machine, patented by Karl von Drais in 1818, a replica made entirely of wood, except for the axles. The fact that many people are still able to move around at the same time using muscle power is shown by the picture below, but more from the leisure sector.