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.

French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built the first steam-powered road vehicle in 1769, while French-born 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 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 1908 Model T, 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 RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's common "RennSport" (lit.: racing sports) designation). The car marked Porsche's first return to the top level of sports prototype racing since the firm abandoned its Porsche LMP in 1999.

The RS Spyder made its debut in the final event of the 2005 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at Laguna Seca winning its class. Since then the RS Spyder has won the ALMS LMP2 Championship in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and took class honours at Le Mans in 2008 and 2009. The outright victory at the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring was the first major victory for Porsche in endurance racing for five years and it was also the first time in 14 years that the non-premier class won the 12 Hours of Sebring overall. Regulation changes for the 2011 season rendered the RS Spyder obsolete but the car has left a legacy in the Porsche 918 Spyder, which uses a development of the RS Spyder's engine and the Porsche 919 Hybrid which carried Porsche's racing program on into the LMP1 category starting in 2014. (Full article...)

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The ACEA agreement refers to a voluntary agreement between the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) and the European Commission to limit the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted by passenger cars sold in Europe.

Signed in 1998, the agreement sought to achieve an average of 140 g/km of CO₂ by 2008 for new passenger vehicles sold by the association's cars in Europe. This target represents a 25% reduction from the 1995 level of 186 g/km and is equivalent to a fuel economy of 5.8 L/100 km or 5.25 L/100 km for petrol and diesel engines respectively. However, the average for the whole car market for 2008 was 153.7 g/km, so the target has not been achieved. (Full article...)

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BMW 2002

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Ghosn in 2010

Carlos Ghosn (/ɡoʊn/; French: [kaʁlɔs ɡon]; Arabic: كارلوس غصن; Lebanese Arabic pronunciation: ['kaːrlos 'ɣosˤn], born 9 March 1954) is a businessman and former automotive executive, widely known for having dramatically fled house arrest in 2019 in Japan, while awaiting trial on financial impropriety charges related to his tenure at Nissan.

Ghosn served as CEO of Michelin North America, chairman and CEO of Renault, chairman of AvtoVAZ, chairman and CEO of Nissan, and chairman of Mitsubishi Motors. (Full article...)

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On this day April 28

1876 — Nicola Romeo is born

1916 — Ferruccio Lamborghini is born

1939 — Powel Crosley Jr. unveils the Crosley minicar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

2006 — Chung Mong-koo, chairman of Hyundai, is arrested for embezzlement

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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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This type of technology, unheard of 10 or 15 years ago, is real. And it's coming. It's just another step toward the fully automated driving experience. Which is anathema to those of us who are drivers' drivers who are suckers for the thrill of controlling a speed machine.

But that's why people like us will always have motorcycles!

—Bob Lutz on the possibilities of future automated automobiles

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General images

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

Image 1Stuttgart, 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)
Image 2Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 3A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 4Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 5A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 61929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 7Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (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 9Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 10The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 11Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 12Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 13A 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 14A 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 15The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 16The 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 17Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 18The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 19Trucks' 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 20Scaled model of the second Marcus car of 1875 (from History of the automobile)
Image 21The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 22Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 232011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 241929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 25The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 26The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 27Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 28A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 29Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 301926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 31A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 32The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 331958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 34In 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 351924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 36Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 37Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 381885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 39Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 40Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 41Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 421946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 431954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 44Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 45The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 46Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 471959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 481974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 49The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 50Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)