While the modern automobile came into existence in 1896 after Henry Ford (at left) sold his first automobile, the Quadricycle, for $200, the history of automobiles dates back much further.

It was Great Britain's Thomas Newcomen who created the first steam-powered engine in 1712. It had an eight-foot-long cylinder 21-inches in diameter and it worked at 12 strokes a minute.

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, however, designed the first steam-powered, self-propelled road vehicle, a three-wheeled military tractor for the French army, in 1769. The vehicle could move up to 2.5 mph.

Francois Isaac de Rivaz designed the first internal combustion engine in 1807, using hydrogen and oxygen to generate energy.

Between 1832 and 1839, Scotland's Robert Anderson created an electric carriage.

Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir of France built the first two-stroke gas-driven engine in 1860, improving upon his design in 1862.

American doctor J.W. Carhart, a professor of physics at Wisconsin State University, built a working steam car in 1871.

Even before Ford, it was Germany's Karl Friedrich Benz (at left) who invented the first gasoline-run, three-wheeled automobile powered by an internal combustion engine between 1885 and 1886 - the first to actually take to the streets. Benz's contemporaries in his home naiton, Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, simultaneously came out with their own gasoline-run, four-wheeled automobile in 1886, called the "Cannstatt-Daimler."

Ford wasn't even the first American to reveal a vehicular invention - brothers Charles Edgar Duryea and Frank Duryea created the first successful has powered car with a two-stroke motor in the United States in 1893. The first run on public roads was made on September 21 of that year in Springfield, Massachusetts. The duo were the first to start an American car manufacturing company as well - the Duryea Motor Wagon Company.

It wasn't until 1899 that Henry Ford formed the Detroit Automobile Company, which then dissolved in January of 1901. Ford would not sell another car until 1903.

By the late 19th century around the 1890s, horseless carriages were being built by artisans, craftsmen and engineers on a small scale across Europe. Among the first models these inventors brought about were the 1909 Gobron-Brille (at left), the 1911 Pope Hartford, the 1913 Mercedes and the 1914 Knox.

The cars known today as "vintage" were mostly invented between 1916 and 1924. Selling anywhere from $500 to $2,000, these models included the 1916 Simplex, the 1923 Voisin and the 1923 Hispano-Suiza (at left). Features on these cars included visors, cigar lighters and wool broadcloth interiors.

From 1925 to 1948, the "Classic Era" of automobiles elevated the car to a status symbol. This is obvious considering how costs rose from $2,000 to a hefty $20,000. Models of this era included the 1930 Ruxton, the 1930 Cord, the 1937 Bugatti, the 1932 Maybach and the 1933 Duesenberg (at left).

Through the 1950s, engine power and vehicle speeds increased, automobile designs became more stylized and cars became much more popular worldwide. Between 1945 and 1970, European auto makers started employing better technology and Japan became a serious car-producing nation. Models of this era include the 1951 Bentley (at left), the 1955 Austin-Healey, the 1956 Mercedes Benz and the 1967 Ferrari.

Some of the flashiest automobile designs were unleashed in the 1980s with features like gullwing doors, racing vents, targa tops and giant spoilers. Top names of this decade included the Ferrari Testarossa (at left), the 911 Turbo, the Trans-Am Firebird, the Lamborghini Countach, the 1988 Corvette, the IROC-Z Camaro and, of course, the Delorean.

Moving into the 90s, cars became more practical and safer. Notable cars of this decade included the Saturn SL/SC, the Lexus LS 400, the Porsche Boxter, the Ford Explorer, the Chevrolet Corvette, the VW New Beetle (at left), the VW Jetta/Golf, the Nissan 300ZX Turbo, the BMW 540i and the Hyundai Tiburon.

Today, you can find automobiles of all shapes and sizes, from the tiny Smart Car to the massive Hummer (at left). From the safety of a Volvo, to the status of a 2010 Lamborghini Murcielago, there is a vehicle and price range out there for everyone. Other vehicles of the decade include the 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser, the 2001 Lexus LS300, the 2002 Mercedes 500 SL, the 2010 Ferrari California and the 2010 Kia Forte.