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 Talbot Samba is a city car manufactured by the PSA Group in the former Simca factory in Poissy, France, and marketed under the short-lived modern-day Talbot brand from 1981 to 1986. Based on the Peugeot 104, it and the Talbot Express were the only Talbots not inherited from Chrysler Europe, engineered by PSA alone. It was also the last new Talbot car to be launched. Its demise in 1986 was effectively the end of the Talbot brand for passenger cars. Launched initially as a three-door hatchback, it was also for some time the only small car available in a factory-ordered cabrio body style, and the most economical car in Europe. (Full article...)

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Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. (Italian: [ˈalfa roˈmɛːo]) is an Italian luxury carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of multinational automotive company Stellantis.

Founded on 24 June 1910 in Milan, Italy as A.L.F.A.—an acronym for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili—the company was established by Cavaliere Ugo Stella to acquire the assets of the ailing Italian subsidiary of French carmaker Darracq, of which he had been an investor and manager. Its first car was the 24 HP, designed by Giuseppe Merosi, which became commercially successful and participated in the 1911 Targa Florio endurance race. In August 1915, ALFA was acquired by Neapolitan entrepreneur and engineer Nicola Romeo, who vastly expanded the company's portfolio to include heavy machinery and aircraft engines. In 1920, the company's name was changed to Alfa Romeo, with the Torpedo 20–30 HP being the first vehicle to bear the new brand. (Full article...)

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2004 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor

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Takeo Fujisawa (藤沢武夫, Fujisawa Takeo, November 10, 1910 – December 30, 1988) was a Japanese businessman who co-founded Honda Motor Co., Ltd. alongside Soichiro Honda. Fujisawa oversaw the financial side of the company while Honda handled the engineering and product development. Together, they took the company from a small manufacturer of bicycle engines to a worldwide car manufacturer. (Full article...)

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On this day June 29

1956 — Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, creating the Interstate Highway System.

2000 — Ford Motor Company spins off Visteon in an IPO.

2005 — A Honda FCX becomes the first hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle to be leased to consumers

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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

When I see an Alfa Romeo go by, I tip my hat.

Henry Ford talking with Ugo Gobbato in 1939

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General images

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

Image 1A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 2Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 3In 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 41974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 51929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 6Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 7Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 8Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 9A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 101924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 11A 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 121926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 13The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 141958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 15A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 16The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 17The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 18Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 19Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 20The 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 21The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 22The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 23The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 24The second Marcus car of 1888 (from History of the automobile)
Image 25The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 26Stuttgart, 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 27Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 28Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 29Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 30Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 31Trucks' 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 321929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 33Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 34Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 35A 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 36Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 37Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 381954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 39The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 40Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 411885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 421959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 43A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 442011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 45Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 46Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 47The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 48Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 49The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 501946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)