1769 Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot self-propelled steam land vehicle - GIF

[ToolTalkBot]

1769 Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot self-propelled steam land vehicle.




Previously:

1869 Roper Steam Velocipede first motorcycle - video and photo
1877 Le Creusot world's largest steam hammer
1883 torpedo boat steam engine running - video
1884 steam car De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux La Marquise - photo
1897 Amoskeag steam-powered fire engine - photo

[BuffaloJohn]

Cool vehicle!

I did notice that it has a license plate...

[BuffaloJohn]

So - in 1771 one of these vehicles was involved in the first auto accident - the second prototype allegedly collided with a brick or stone wall in Paris.

[Frank S]

So - in 1771 one of these vehicles was involved in the first auto accident - the second prototype allegedly collided with a brick or stone wall in Paris.

The guy driving it probably just wanted his piece of the rock.

[drivermark]

2 things 1. Is that a cannon swinging from the under carriage? 2. Shouldn't the license number be 1?

[BuffaloJohn]

2 things 1. Is that a cannon swinging from the under carriage? 2. Shouldn't the license number be 1?

1 - yes that is a cannon barrel
2 - it looks like a Georgia plate... since the first one of these was in France, #1 was taken in Georgia...

[mklotz]

It's my guess that the cannon barrel is a counterweight to oppose the weight of the front mounted boiler. The banners on the building appear more American than French. Is it possible this is happening at some sort of celebration here in the states? After all, where would the French get an American license plate and, if they did, they certainly wouldn't use it.

[ductape]

This is a reproduction on display at the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum in Florida. Very interesting to see up close.
The flag is puzzling, though. It kind of looks like what the French National Volunteers used, but the Levee en masse was twenty years after this invention.

[mklotz]

This is a reproduction on display at the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum in Florida. Very interesting to see up close.
The flag is puzzling, though. It kind of looks like what the French National Volunteers used, but the Levee en masse was twenty years after this invention.

And, of course, that would explain the license plate. It does look more like a Florida plate...

https://www.flhsmv.gov/motor-vehicle...-registration/

Also, you're right about the flag. Perhaps the builders were not history buffs and just picked a flag that appealed to them.