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 Ramblin' Reck from Georgia Tech is the 1930 Ford Model A Sport coupe that serves as the official mascot of the student body at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The Reck is present at all major sporting events and student body functions. Its most noticeable role is leading the football team into Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field, a duty which the Reck has performed since 1961. The Ramblin' Reck is mechanically and financially maintained on campus by students in Ramblin' Reck Club.

The first mechanical Reck was a 1914 Ford Model T owned by Dean Floyd Field. Until the current Reck was donated to the school in 1961, most of the early Ramblin' Recks were owned by students, faculty or alumni. The modern Reck has donned a number of different paint jobs and has had several restorations and modifications made to it. These changes were made by various individuals and organizations over the years, including Bobby Dodd and Georgia Tech Alumnus Pete George, who worked at the Ford plant in Hapeville, Georgia. The upkeep of the Reck has been the sole responsibility of Ramblin' Reck Club and the Reck driver since 1987. (Full article...)

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A 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI displaying "Clean Diesel" at the Detroit Auto Show

The Volkswagen emissions scandal, sometimes known as Dieselgate or Emissionsgate, began in September 2015, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to German automaker Volkswagen Group. The agency had found that Volkswagen had intentionally programmed turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines to activate their emissions controls only during laboratory emissions testing, which caused the vehicles' NO_x output to meet US standards during regulatory testing. However, the vehicles emitted up to 40 times more NO_x in real-world driving. Volkswagen deployed this software in about 11 million cars worldwide, including 500,000 in the United States, in model years 2009 through 2015. (Full article...)

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1967 Pontiac Catalina convertible

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Zetsche in 2013

Dieter Zetsche (German pronunciation: [ˌdiːtɐ ˈtsɛtʃə]; born on 5 May 1953) is a German engineer and business executive. He is the chairman of TUI AG. He was the chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz until 22 May 2019, a role he had held since 2006, in addition to being a member of the company's board since 1998.

Dieter Zetsche is widely recognized for his influential leadership at Mercedes-Benz. Serving as the CEO of Daimler AG from 2006 to 2019, he played a pivotal role in revitalizing the brand and steering it towards significant growth and innovation. Under his tenure, Mercedes-Benz not only enhanced its reputation as a leading luxury automotive brand but also embraced new technologies and design philosophies, contributing to its status as one of the most esteemed and dynamic luxury car manufacturers globally. Zetsche's strategic vision and emphasis on quality and innovation were crucial in maintaining Mercedes-Benz's competitive edge in the luxury automotive market. (Full article...)

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On this day May 17

2005 — Toyota announces plans to produce hybrid vehicles at its Georgetown, Kentucky plant

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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

If it wasn't so ugly, I would shoot myself.

—Famed Ferrari designer, Aurelio Lampredi, describing a prototype Mini after a 1959 test drive

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General images

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

Image 1The 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 2The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 3The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 4Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 51946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 61929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 7Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 8The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 9Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 101954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 11The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 121958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 131926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 14The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 15Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 16A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 17Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 18Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 19Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 20A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 21Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 22A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 23Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 24Stuttgart, 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 25Scaled model of the second Marcus car of 1875 (from History of the automobile)
Image 26In 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 271924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 28A 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 29Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 30Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 31Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 32A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 33The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 34The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 35Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 36Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 371974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 38Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 391885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 40Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 412011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 42Trucks' 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 43Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 44The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 45The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 461929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 47The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 48Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 49A 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 501959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)