Did you know that the first automobiles used levers and not steering wheels? The first automobile was manufactured in 1769 for the French army. However, people believe that the first real automobile was made by Karl Friedrich Benz in 1885. This automobile was powered by gasoline and had three wheels, not four. The first car-sized automobile that could be used on existing wagon roads in the United States was a steam-powered vehicle invented in 1871 by Dr. J. W. Carhart. This prompted the state of Wisconsin, in 1875, to offer a $10,000 reward to the first to produce a practical substitute for the use of horses and other animals. Over the years, automobiles have become more and more complex, but over the years, they are still in use and still have a large impact on our lives. Background The automobile does not specifically have an inventor who drove the automobile to what it is today. It is estimated that there are over 100,000 patents that created the automobile we know today. However, you can point out the many firsts that happened along the way. Starting with the first theoretical plans of ...