 You've seen those railroad inspection cars, large enough to carry a work crew of four men and their tools to a job site, yet light enough so they can lift it on and off the tracks when they hear a train coming? The first one, the first one, pedal-powered, was the brainchild of Ralph Teeter. By 1901, he handmade an engine to propel it. In fact, Ralph hand-built a working automobile when he was 12.