This is the first real build of Google's self-driving car

Google may not plan to build the final version of its self-driving cars by itself, but that's not keeping the Mountain View firm from cranking out working test versions.

The Google Self-Driving Car Project revealed today "the first real build of our self-driving vehicle prototype." In other words, this baby ain't no mock-up, and it's got real headlights to boot!

You can see the car in the image above. It's actually an amalgamation of several different prototypes Google created to test various car systems, such as steering and braking as well as the parts that let the car function driver-free.

Thanks to the earlier test work, Google created the craft you see above - the company's "first complete prototype for fully autonomous driving."

Holiday test drive

The self-driving car team said their holiday time will be spent on the test track in preparation of putting the vehicles on Northern Californian roads sometime next year.

Unfortunately for fully autonomous driving enthusiasts, safety drivers will oversee the cars for the foreseeable future, and temporary manual controls will be utilized as the cars undergo further testing.

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