The first self-propelled "automobile" was built in 1796 by a French army officer named Nicolas Joseph Cugnot. It was a cumbersome, three-wheeled cart. A steam-driver, who-cylinder engine drove the front wheel. The machine could go three miles per hour and had to stop every few minutes to build up steam. Within minutes of starting, the inventor had the first motoring accident. The huge copper boiler on the front of the vehicle made it almost impossible to steer. On its first trip, Cognot's steamer ran into and demolished a stone wait.
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