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All the earlier cars were powered on steam and were mostly used as toys. Ferdinand Verbiest invented the first car in the year 1672. It was the first ever car invented and was powered by steam. Verbiest was an experimentalist and a missionary to China. He built his car in China as a toy for the Chinese emperor. Hence, you could rightly say, the first ever car was made in China. Later on, in 1769, the first self-propelled car was designed and built by Nicholas Cugnot. His model of car was a three-wheeler. The replica of this model can be found in the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers in Paris. Although the invention was much ahead of time, the model was impractical and hence, the production was discontinued.