The invention of the car cannot be attributed to a single person, as it evolved over centuries with contributions from many inventors. However, the first practical, modern automobile powered by an internal combustion engine is widely credited to Karl Benz. In 1885/1886, Benz, a German mechanical engineer, designed and built a three-wheeled vehicle called the Benz Patent Motorwagen, which he patented in 1886. This vehicle is considered the first true automobile because it integrated a gasoline-powered internal combustion engine with a chassis designed as a single unit, making it practical and marketable for everyday use

. Before Benz, there were other important milestones:

• Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, a French inventor, built the first self-propelled steam-powered road vehicle in 1769, primarily a military tractor

• Robert Anderson developed an early electric carriage in the 1830s

• Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, also Germans, created the first four-wheeled vehicle with a four-stroke gasoline engine in 1886, shortly after Benz's invention

• Various inventors like Siegfried Marcus and George Selden contributed to early gasoline engine and automobile patents, though their vehicles were less practical or never mass-produced

Leonardo da Vinci even sketched designs for self-propelled vehicles in the 15th century, but these remained conceptual and were not built as functioning automobiles

. In summary, Karl Benz is most often credited as the inventor of the modern car due to his creation of the first practical, gasoline-powered automobile in 1885/1886, although the development of the automobile was a cumulative process involving many inventors over time.