The Americans use the word automobile - meaning 'a vehicle which moves itself' - which is, perhaps, close to describing what a car is. Car is actually short for 'horseless carriage', and that tells you exactly what it is. It is a machine for carrying people about without the use of horses.

The first people to try to replace horses used steam power, and you still see traction engines and other steam road vehicles preserved. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built the first full-scale, self-propelled mechanical vehicle in 1769 when he built a steam-powered tricycle. But steam engines were quickly replaced by petrol and then diesel engines.

There are now over one billion cars on the world's roads. Which is remarkable, considering the first modern car was built in only 1886 by Carl Benz in Germany.