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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Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known as Brabham (/ˈbræbəm/), was a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac. The team won four FIA Formula One Drivers' and two Constructors' World Championships in its 30-year history, starting out with back-to-back wins of both in 1966 and 1967. Jack Brabham's 1966 Drivers' Championship remains the only such achievement using a car bearing the driver's own name.

In the 1960s, Brabham was the world's largest manufacturer of open-wheel racing cars for sale to customer teams; by 1970 it had built more than 500 cars. During this period, teams using Brabham cars won championships in Formula Two and Formula Three. Brabham cars also competed in the Indianapolis 500 and in Formula 5000 racing. In the 1970s and 1980s, Brabham introduced such innovations as carbon brakes and hydropneumatic suspension, and reintroduced in-race refuelling. Its unique Gordon Murray-designed 'fan car' won its only race before being withdrawn. (Full article...)

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FCA US, LLC, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler (/ˈkraɪslər/ KRY-slər), is one of the "Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotive company Stellantis. Stellantis North America sells vehicles worldwide under the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram nameplates. It also includes Mopar, its automotive parts and accessories division, and SRT, its performance automobile division. The division also distributes Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Maserati vehicles in North America.

The original Chrysler Corporation was founded in 1925 by Walter Chrysler from the remains of the Maxwell Motor Company. It was acquired by Daimler-Benz, which in 1998 renamed itself DaimlerChrysler. After Daimler divested from Chrysler in 2007, the company operated as Chrysler LLC (2007–2009), and Chrysler Group LLC (2009–2014) before being acquired by Fiat S.p.A. and becoming a subsidiary of the newly formed Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ("FCA") in 2014. In 2021 Chrysler became a subsidiary of Stellantis, the company formed from the merger between FCA and PSA Group (Peugeot Société Anonyme) in 2021. (Full article...)

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Volkswagen Polo Mk3

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Elwood Haynes (October 14, 1857 – April 13, 1925) was an American inventor, metallurgist, automotive pioneer, entrepreneur and industrialist. He invented the metal alloy stellite and independently co-discovered martensitic stainless steel along with Englishman Harry Brearley in 1912 and designed one of the earliest automobiles made in the United States. He is recognized for having created the earliest American design that was feasible for mass production and, with the Apperson brothers, he formed the first company in the United States to produce automobiles profitably. He made many advances in the automotive industry.

Early in his career, while serving as a field superintendent at gas and oil companies during Indiana's gas boom, Haynes invented several devices important to the advance of the natural gas industry. When working for the Indiana Natural Gas and Oil Company, he oversaw the construction of the first long-distance natural gas pipeline in the United States, connecting Chicago with the Trenton Gas Field 150 miles (240 km) away. He began to formulate plans for a motorized vehicle in the early 1890s; he successfully road tested his first car, the Pioneer, on July 4, 1894—eight years after the first automobile was patented in Germany. He formed a partnership with Elmer and Edgar Apperson in 1896 to start Haynes-Apperson for the commercial production of automobiles. He renamed it Haynes Automobile Company in 1905, following the loss of his partners. (Full article...)

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On this day June 6

1925 — Maxwell Motor Car becomes Chrysler Corporation

1926 — Giotto Bizzarrini born

1933 — The first drive-in movie theater opens in Camden, NJ

1941 — Louis Chevrolet dies

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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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I think cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals. I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived with passion by unknown artists, and consumed in image if not in usage by a whole population which appropriates them as a purely magical object.

—Roland Barthes' The New Citroën (1957)

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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 2The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 31946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 4Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 5Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 6Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 7Scaled model of the second Marcus car of 1875 (from History of the automobile)
Image 8Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 91929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 10The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 11The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 12Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 131974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 141959 Morris Mini-Minor (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 16In 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 17Trucks' 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 18Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 19A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 201958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 21Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 221954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 232011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 24A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 25The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 26The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 27A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 28Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 291885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 30Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 311924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 32Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 33The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 34Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 35The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 36Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 37Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 38The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 391929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 401926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 41Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 42Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 43Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 44A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 45The 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 46Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 47Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 48A 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 49The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 50A 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)