The transition from Europe’s dismal Dark Ages to the brilliance of the Renaissance was ignited in Italy, in Florence but also in Venice, Genoa, Milan and other cities. It was in Florence that the Medici family supported the artistic work of da Vinci and Michelangelo, and even the scientific discoveries of Galileo.

Indeed, it was during this period that Leonardo da Vinci sketched out the design for a self-propelled vehicle, a cart driven by tightly wound springs that turned gears that turned wheels. Think of a watch mechanism that moves a vehicle instead of clock hands.

Da Vinci’s cart might be considered the first concept car, as well as the first vehicle designed in Italy. But as car collectors and enthusiasts through the ages would confirm, it wasn’t the last great and artistic vehicle design from the boot-shaped nation.

Italy has a long history of pleasing automotive aesthetics that traces directly back to the Renaissance and the country’s artistic heritage.





https://journal.classiccars.com/2018...an-car-design/