The first steam-powered vehicle was supposedly built in 1679 by Ferdinand Verbiest, a Flemish Jesuit in China. The vehicle was a toy for the Chinese Emperor. While not intended to carry passengers and therefore not exactly a car but a carriage, Verbiest's device is likely to be the first ever engine powered vehicle.[2] Also it seems that the Belgian vehicle served as an inspiration for the Italian Grimaldi (early 1700) and the French Nolet (1748) steam carriage successor.