Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot: Difference between revisions

'''Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot''' (26 February 1725 – 2 October 1804) was a French [[inventor]] who built the world's first full-size and working self-propelled [[Car|automobile]]mechanical land-vehicle, yet it was not the first"Fardier prototypeà ofvapeur" a– self-propelled vehicle sinceeffectively the veryworld's first prototype of a self-propelled vehicle was made by [[Leonardo da VinciCar|automobile]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot {{!}} Facts, Invention, & Steam Car {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicolas-Joseph-Cugnot |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>{{efn|It has alternatively been suggested that the earliest self-propelled vehicle was designed in about 1672 by [[Ferdinand Verbiest]], a member of a [[Jesuit China missions|Jesuit mission in China]], but that it was too small to carry a driver and may have never been built or have worked.<ref>{{cite web |title=1679–1681 – R P Verbiest's Steam Chariot |work=History of the Automobile: origin to 1900 |publisher=[[Hergé]] |url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://users.skynet.be/tintinpassion/VOIRSAVOIR/Auto/Pages_auto/Auto_001.html&sa=X&oi=translate |access-date=8 May 2009}}</ref>}}

He was born in [[Void-Vacon]], [[Lorraine (province)|Lorraine]], (now ''{{Lang|fr|[[Departments of France|departementdepartment]]}}'' of [[Meuse (department)|Meuse]]), France. He trained as a military [[engineer]]. In 1765, he began experimenting with working models of [[steam engine|steam-engine]]-powered vehicles for the French Army, intended for transporting [[cannons]].

In 1770, a full-size version of the ''fardier à vapeur'' was built, specified to be able to carry four tons and cover two ''lieue'' (7.8 &nbsp;km, or 4.8 miles) in one hour, a performance it never achieved in practice. The vehicle weighed about 2.5 tonnes [[Tare weight|tare]], and had two wheels at the rear and one in the front where the horses would normally have been. The front wheel supported a steam boiler and driving mechanism. The power unit was articulated to the "trailer", and was steered from there by means of a double handle arrangement. One source states that it seated four passengers and moved at a speed of {{convert|2.25|mph|1|disp=flip}}.<ref>L. A. Manwaring, ''The Observer's Book of Automobiles'' (12th ed.) 1966, Library of Congress catalog card # 62-9807. p. 7</ref>

241 years later, in 2010, a copy of the "fardier de Cugnot" was built by students from [[Arts et Métiers ParisTech|ParisTech]], in conjunction with Cugnot's native [[Communes of France|commune]] of [[Void-Vacon]]. This replica worked perfectly, demonstrating the validity of the concept and the veracity of the tests carried out in 1769.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tbauto.org/cugnot.html |title=Fardier de Cugnot – 1770 – France |publisher=Tampa Bay Automobil Museum |website=tbauto.org |access-date=7 December 2017 |archive-date=2 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302100407/http://www.tbauto.org/cugnot.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The replica was exhibited at the 2010 [[Paris Motor Show]] before returning for exhibit in Void-Vacon.<ref>[http://www.lefardierdecugnot.fr ''Notre fardier devant le monument Cugnot à Void-Vacon (Meuse)''], on the site of lefardierdecugnot.fr</ref>{{clear}}