quote In 1769, seven years before the American Revolution, Nicholas Joseph Cugnot assembled the first self-propelled vehicle for the French military. The drive-wheel was turned by way of a ratchet that was propelled by a two cyllinder steam engine based on the inventions of Thomas Newcomen. Intended to transport cannon barrels but it remained an experiment due to poor performance on rough terrain and some safety issues. In 1779 an opponent of the project complained in a letter saying the machine is "as ingenious as it is useless". Takes over an hour to start up. The first prototype could run for 15 minutes at slow walking speed before needing a refill. Some sources say the second one (1770 and later) could run for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

[This message has been edited by Boondawg (edited 08-15-2014).]

Wow, the 'ratchet" is SOOO close to a reciprocal movement, but just not quite there...just a few more degrees and a bell crank..

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 08-16-2014).]

I love the fact that it had a license plate on the vehicle! Think about going down to the DMV to register that!

Very cool!

Ya sure aint going into "stealth mode" and sneaking up on anybody with that thing.

Hear ye, hear ye! All the hoes love riding in my 1769 Cugnot Steamer!