Portal:Cars

The Cars Portal

An electric car charging station at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This station is run by Petrobras and uses solar energy.

A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people, not cargo.

The French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built the first steam-powered road vehicle in 1769, while the Swiss inventor François Isaac de Rivaz designed and constructed the first internal combustion-powered automobile in 1808. The modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use—was invented in 1886, when the German inventor Carl Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen. Commercial cars became widely available during the 20th century. One of the first cars affordable by the masses was the Ford Model T, begun in 1908, an American car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Cars were rapidly adopted in the US, where they replaced horse-drawn carriages. In Europe and other parts of the world, demand for automobiles did not increase until after World War II. The car is considered an essential part of the developed economy.

Cars have controls for driving, parking, passenger comfort, and a variety of lamps. Over the decades, additional features and controls have been added to vehicles, making them progressively more complex. These include rear-reversing cameras, air conditioning, navigation systems, and in-car entertainment. Most cars in use in the early 2020s are propelled by an internal combustion engine, fueled by the combustion of fossil fuels. Electric cars, which were invented early in the history of the car, became commercially available in the 2000s and are predicted to cost less to buy than petrol-driven cars before 2025. The transition from fossil fuel-powered cars to electric cars features prominently in most climate change mitigation scenarios, such as Project Drawdown's 100 actionable solutions for climate change. (Full article...)

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The Mitsubishi i-MiEV (MiEV is an acronym for Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) is a five-door electric kei car produced in the 2010s by Mitsubishi Motors, and is the electric version of the Mitsubishi i. Rebadged variants of the i-MiEV are also sold by PSA as the Peugeot iOn and Citroën C-Zero, mainly in Europe. The i-MiEV was the world's first modern highway-capable mass production electric car.

The i-MiEV was launched for fleet customers in Japan in July 2009, and on April 1, 2010, for the wider public. International sales to Asia, Australia and Europe started in 2010, with further markers in 2011 including Central and South America. Fleet and retail customer deliveries in the U.S. and Canada began in December 2011. The American-only version is larger than the Japanese version and has several additional features. (Full article...)

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Crude ideas and designs of automobiles can be traced back to ancient and medieval times. In 1649, Hans Hautsch of Nuremberg built a clockwork-driven carriage. In 1672, a small-scale steam-powered vehicle was created; the first steam-powered automobile capable of human transportation was built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769. Inventors began to branch out at the start of the 19th century, creating the de Rivaz engine, one of the first internal combustion engines, and an early electric motor. Samuel Brown later tested the first industrially applied internal combustion engine in 1826. Only two of these were made.

Development was hindered in the mid-19th century by a backlash against large vehicles, yet progress continued on some internal combustion engines. The engine evolved as engineers created two- and four-cycle combustion engines and began using gasoline. The first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use—and the first car in series production appeared in 1886, when Carl Benz developed a gasoline-powered automobile and made several identical copies. In 1890, Gottlieb Daimler, inventor of the high-speed liquid petroleum-fueled engine, and Wilhelm Maybach formed Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft. In 1926, the company merged with Benz & Cie. (founded by Carl Benz in 1883) to form Daimler-Benz, known for its Mercedes-Benz automobile brand. (Full article...)

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2005 Mercedes-Benz S350

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Mondial de l'Automobile de Paris, 2012

Louis Schweitzer (born 8 July 1942) is a Swiss businessman who is a former chairman of the board of Groupe Renault, first taking the post on 27 May 1992, succeeding Raymond Lévy. He was also CEO from 1992 to 2005. He was in addition Chairman of AstraZeneca until 8 June 2012 where he was appointed as a Director on 11 March 2004. He is a non-executive director of BNP Paribas, Electricité de France, Veolia Environnement, Volvo AB and L'Oréal, and Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Philips Electronics NV (Full article...)

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On this day June 7

1911 — Brooks Stevens, the automobile designer who also coined the term "planned obsolescence", is born.

1933 — Ford Motor Company builds the last of its 199 Tri-Motor airplanes.

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Did you know...

...that the racing version of the Dauer 962 Le Mans, winner of 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans, is a roadcar converted from a Porsche 962 racecar, which dominated Le Mans, Group C and IMSA during the 1980s.
...that the 25 Millionth VW Golf rolled off the production line in Wolfsburg in March 2007. The first Golf started production in 1974, 33 years later the 1.4 litre TSI version became the 25 Millionth car.
...that the nearly identical Ford Model T engines were produced for exactly 12,000 days
...that the first production turbocharged cars were General Motors' A-body 1962 Chevrolet Corvair and Oldsmobile F-85?
...that Jeep introduced the 1993 Grand Cherokee and 2007 Wrangler in the same way — by driving them through a plate glass window?
...that a small number of Renault 20s, badged as Dacia 2000, were made in the 1980s by Dacia in Romania for Romanian communist dignitaries of that time?
...that the Autobianchi Primula was the Fiat's first automobile with the front-wheel drive, transverse engine setup and rack and pinion steering?
...that the Plymouth Sundance is a liftback, even though the outside appearance might suggest that it is a sedan?

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Selected quote of the day

The Aston Martin DB9 is the car that I'd be most likely to sell my children into slavery for.

—Jeremy Clarkson

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General images

The following are images from various car-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 2Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 3Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 4A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 51929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 6Scaled model of the second Marcus car of 1875 (from History of the automobile)
Image 7The weight of the low battery stabilises the car. This is a dual-motor, four-wheel-drive layout but many cars only have one motor. (from Car)
Image 8The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 9The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 101924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 11Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 12Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 13A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 14The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 15A Tesla Model Y electric car, the world's best-selling car in the first and second quarters of 2023. (from History of the automobile)
Image 16The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 17Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 18The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 19Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 20Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 21The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 22The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 231954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 24Trucks' share of US vehicles produced, has tripled since 1975. Though vehicle fuel efficiency has increased within each category, the overall trend toward less efficient types of vehicles has offset some of the benefits of greater fuel economy and reductions in pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. Without the shift towards SUVs, energy use per unit distance could have fallen 30% more than it did from 2010 to 2022. (from Car)
Image 251959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 26Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 27The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 28The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 29A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 301946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 31Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 32Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 331926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 34Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 35A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 36Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 37Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 38The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 391974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 401885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 411929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 421958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 43Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 44Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 45Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 46In the Ford Model T the left-side hand lever sets the rear wheel parking brakes and puts the transmission in neutral. The lever to the right controls the throttle. The lever on the left of the steering column is for ignition timing. The left foot pedal changes the two forward gears while the centre pedal controls reverse. The right pedal is the brake. (from Car)
Image 47A Stanley Steamer racecar in 1903. In 1906, a similar Stanley Rocket set the world land speed record at 205.5 km/h (127.7 mph) at Daytona Beach Road Course. (from History of the automobile)
Image 48Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 492011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 50Stuttgart, a cradle of the car with Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach working there at the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft and place of the modern day headquarters of Mercedes-Benz Group and Porsche (from Car)