Ideas of Automobiles The first true components of an automobile may have come from Otto Von Guericke, a 17th century German physicist. Guericke was noted as the first person to make metal pistons, cylinders, and connecting rods, the most basic components in a reciprocating engine. But the first automobile was believed to be the 1769 Cugnot steamer, a three-wheeled tractor. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot invented the Cugnot steamer. The steamer was noted to have ran for 20 minutes at a speed of 2.25 miles per hour. The Automotive Industry The automotive industry started in 1893 when Charles and Frank Duryea designed and built the first gasoline-engine- propelle