*Man, Ivan Sutherland did everything.
http://jalopnik.com/the-first-real-object-ever-3d-scanned-and-rendered-was-494241353
(...)
"To "scan" a 3D object, they needed two key things: An object and a scanner. The object was Sutherland's wife Marsha's 1967 VW Beetle, and the "scanner" was Sutherland's students, armed with paint and yardsticks.
"They mapped out polygons right on the Beetle itself, and measured every line in what must have been that uniquely scientific mix of tedious and exciting. The resulting dataset was entered into Sutherland's programs, and produced this first 3D wireframe model of a car. Actually, the first 3D model of any physical-world thing, ever.
"The model was just the outer surface of the Bug, sans wheels, bumpers, etc., though they did include details like the indicator lights, window openings, and headlight rings. This model proved incredibly valuable as test data for the team's work, and was used to test early rendering techniques as well, such as Bui Tuong Phong's rendering work that produced an image of the Beetle that was history's first computer-generated image that looked like its physical model. That's a big deal, when you think about it...."
