There had been some experiments with early versions of the automobile in the mid-1700s, but the first successful effort at what we today would call an auto (or a car) was in Germany in 1885-1886, when Karl Benz built an auto that was powered by a gasoline engine. In the USA, Henry Ford was also doing some experiments, and built his first auto in 1886. Interestingly, in the 1890s, when more automobiles were made and driving began to be popular, they were not usually called "cars" (that generally referred to a trolley car, a kind of public transportation like a bus). They were sometimes called "horseless carriages," and the people who learned to drive them were called "autoists"
In 1896 Henry Ford completed his first self-propelled vehicle which he named the Ford Quadricycle. He test-drove it on June 4 1896.
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