What is was the first car ever made?

There's no single definitive answer to the question of the "first car ever made," as it depends on how you define "car." There's no universally agreed-upon starting point.

Several contenders exist for the title, depending on the criteria used:

* Karl Benz's Patent-Motorwagen (1886): This is often cited as the first practical automobile, as it was the first self-propelled vehicle designed specifically for personal transportation and produced in a limited series. It is widely considered the ancestor of the modern automobile.

However, other inventors were working on similar vehicles around the same time, and some earlier vehicles might be considered depending on your definition:

* Various steam-powered vehicles: Steam-powered road vehicles predate Benz's car, but they were generally larger, less efficient, and less practical for widespread use.

The important point is that the development of the automobile was an evolutionary process, not a single invention. While the Benz Patent-Motorwagen holds a significant place in history, labeling it definitively as the *very first* car is an oversimplification.