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 Mitsubishi i (三菱・i, Mitsubishi i) is a kei car from automaker Mitsubishi Motors, first released in January 2006, twenty eight months after its debut at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show. It is the first four-door automobile since the 1960s to employ a "rear midship" setup with the engine behind the passengers, in an attempt to improve safety and interior space without enlarging the overall exterior.

The innovative layout and styling of the i proved an immediate critical and commercial success, exceeding Mitsubishi's initial sales targets by 20 percent and winning thirteen awards in its first year. Although designed with the Japanese keijidōsha light automobile class in mind, the attention it generated led to its subsequent introduction in right hand drive markets in Asia, Oceania and Europe. It is also used as a basis of the 2009 i-MiEV battery electric vehicle. (Full article...)

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Beam's Shell Service Station and Office, also known as C. Grier Beam Truck Museum, is a historic service station located at 117 N. Mountain St. in Cherryville, Gaston County, North Carolina. It was built about 1930 by the Shell Oil Company, and is a one-story, rectangular Mission/spanish Revival style building. Associated with the service station are the original pump island and gasoline pumps.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. (Full article...)

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Wartburg 311

Selected biography -

1885 lithograph of White

Thomas H. White (April 26, 1836 – June 22, 1914), was an American industrialist and philanthropist. In 1876 he founded the White Sewing Machine Company in Cleveland, Ohio, predecessor of White Consolidated Industries. He was also an automotive pioneer through the White Motor Company, which went on to produce cars, trucks, buses and tractors. In 1913 he established the Thomas H. White Charitable Trust, which is still active as the Thomas H. White Foundation. (Full article...)

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On this day January 18

1919 — Bentley Motors Limited is founded

1937 — Ford Motor Company builds its 25 millionth car

1963 — Roy Abernethy, president of American Motors Corporation, warns automakers not to renew the horsepower race and glamourize speed

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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The client is not always right

—Enzo Ferrari

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General images

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

Image 1Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 2Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 3Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 4A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 5Scaled model of the second Marcus car of 1875 (from History of the automobile)
Image 61885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 7The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 8Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 9The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 10Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 11The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 12Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 131926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 14The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
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 16Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 17The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 18Low battery and motors can improve safety (from Car)
Image 192011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 201929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 21Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 221946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (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 24Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 251974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 26The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 27Stuttgart, 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 28Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 29Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 30Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 311929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 32Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 33The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 34A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 35Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 36Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 37In 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 381924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 39Trucks' 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 40A 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 41Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 42The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 43Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 441959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 45A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 46Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 47A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 48The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 49The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 501958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)

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