Leonardo da Vinci’s automobile

Take a look at this reconstruction of an early automobile designed by the great inventor and polymath Leonardo da Vinci.

Arguably the embodiment of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci was celebrated for his in-depth knowledge and innovatory prowess. A master scientist, mathematician, artist, inventor, botanist, architect, sculptor and anatomist, da Vinci left literally thousands of designs and inventions, including conceptions for a tank, helicopter and calculator. However, upon his death, his great accumulated knowledge (over 33,000 pages of notes) were sold and lost, with only roughly 6000 still in existence today. This automobile is taken from one of the few plans still left to us, and as you can see from the video, works roughly in exactly the same way as the early automobiles from the late 19th century – over four hundred years after his lifetime.