The first real car that was driven was in 1885.  There were other cars before that but they were steam powered.  The first car that was able to go itself was made by Nicolas Cuglot in 1769 which could get  a maximum speed of 6 miles per hour(MPH).  Two years later he made another steam powered engine that ran so fast it crashed into a wall, causing the first accident.  This sparked of many other idea around the internal combustion engine with little or no degree of commercial success.  Than in 1860 Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir made the first successful 2 stroke gas engine.  Later in 1862 Jean built an experimental vehicle, ran by his gas engine, which could get to a max speed of 3MPH.  

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