Who built the first motor car?

There's no single definitive answer to who built the "first" motor car, as it depends on how you define "motor car". Several inventors were working on self-propelled vehicles around the same time. However, Karl Benz is generally credited with building the first practical automobile. His Benz Patent-Motorwagen, built in 1886, is widely recognized as the first true automobile because it was a self-contained, three-wheeled vehicle designed for personal transportation. While others had created earlier steam-powered and internal combustion engine vehicles, Benz's was the first to be truly practical and commercially viable.