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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Lotus T128 at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans

The Lotus T128 is a Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) designed by former Sauber technical director James Key and built by Advanced Design and Engineering Systems Solutions (ADESS) and Kodewa. It was used by Kodewa in the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship under the name Lotus. Stéphane Chosse, the founder of ADESS, first proposed building a Le Mans prototype car in March 2011. The vehicle's construction began in February 2013, eleven months after Kodewa acquired two chassis. The T128's aerodynamic study was carried out using a computer-aided software mesh tool from Altair Engineering, and aerodynamics was the main priority in its design, with Chosse taking a similar approach as when he was involved in Formula One. It uses a naturally aspirated V8 engine from the BMW S65, which is also used in the company's M3 model, and produces around 450 horsepower (340 kW).

The programme was officially announced during the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans race weekend, and its scheduled first test in December was delayed by seven weeks to allow for the installation of additional parts. Both cars failed to finish the season-opening 2013 6 Hours of Silverstone but finished in the top six at Spa-Francorchamps. A legal dispute over unpaid invoices arose during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, resulting in the cars being temporarily seized by bailiffs until a Le Mans court ordered their return after Lotus proved that the invoices were fictitious. Both cars failed to finish the race and the subsequent round in São Paulo. Lotus took their only podium of the season at the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas, but finished no higher than sixth in the final three races. The two T128s finished seventh and eighth in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams. After the season, Lotus moved into LMP1 and replaced the T128s with a new car, the CLM P1/01. (Full article...)

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Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (本田技研工業株式会社, Honda Giken Kōgyō Kabushiki gaisha, lit. 'Honda Institute of Technology and Industry Company', IPA: [honda] ^ⓘ; /ˈhɒndə/) is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and battery-powered equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.

Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a production of 400 million by the end of 2019. It is also the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. Honda became the second-largest Japanese automobile manufacturer in 2001. In 2015, Honda was the eighth largest automobile manufacturer in the world. (Full article...)

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1999 Mazda Miata (MX-5)

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Nicolaus August Otto circa 1868

Nicolaus August Otto (10 June 1832 – 26 January 1891) was a German engineer who successfully developed the compressed charge internal combustion engine which ran on petroleum gas and led to the modern internal combustion engine. The Association of German Engineers (VDI) created DIN standard 1940 which says "Otto Engine: internal combustion engine in which the ignition of the compressed fuel-air mixture is initiated by a timed spark", which has been applied to all engines of this type since. (Full article...)

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On this day June 4

1896 — Henry Ford takes his first car for a road test.

1924 — Ford Motor Company builds its 10 millionth car.

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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

Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines.

—Enzo Ferrari responding to driver Paul Frère as to why his 250 TR had a limited top speed on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans

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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 2Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 31946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 4Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 5Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 6Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 7In 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 8Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 9Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 10Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 11The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 12Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 13A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 14Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 151959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 16A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 17The 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 18The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 191954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 20The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 21The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 22A 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 23Scaled model of the second Marcus car of 1875 (from History of the automobile)
Image 24Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 251974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 26The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 27The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 28Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 291926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 30Trucks' 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 31Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 32A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 33Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 34Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 35The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 362011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 37The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 38Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 39A 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 401929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 411958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 421885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 431929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 44Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 451924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 46The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 47A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 48The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 49Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 50Result of a serious car collision (from Car)