Who invented modern cars?

There's no single inventor of the modern car. It was the culmination of innovations by many people over decades. However, Karl Benz is generally credited with inventing the first practical automobile powered by an internal combustion engine in 1886. His Benz Patent-Motorwagen is widely considered the ancestor of the modern car.

While Benz is often cited, it's important to acknowledge that others, such as Gottlieb Daimler (who independently developed a high-speed internal combustion engine around the same time) and Henry Ford (who revolutionized car manufacturing with the assembly line), played crucial roles in the car's development and popularization. So, it's more accurate to say it was a collaborative effort than the invention of a single person.