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 over 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 Citroën C3 Picasso is a car produced by the French motor company Citroën from 2008 to 2017. It has a five-door mini MPV design and was first unveiled at the 2008 Paris Motor Show as a concept car named "Drooneel". The Picasso is the mini MPV version of the Citroën C3 and the successor of the Citroën Xsara Picasso, and was designed to compete with the Opel Meriva, Nissan Note, Renault Modus and Ford Fusion.

The C3 Picasso was assembled in December 2007 at the PSA Trnava Plant in Slovakia, which Citroën announced from France in July 2008 would be the sole manufacturer of the model. Citroën presented the finished product to the Slovak press and public on 25 September before it was unveiled to the world in October at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. The Trnava Plant by then was expected to be building 28 cars per hour as the C3 Picasso went on sale in France in February 2009 for €14,950. The company began to sell the car in other European markets in March 2009. (Full article...)

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Panhard et Levassor (1887–1895). This model was the first registered automobile in Portugal

Panhard was a French motor vehicle manufacturer that began as one of the first makers of automobiles. It was a manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its final incarnation, now owned by Renault Trucks Defense, was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005, and then by Renault in 2012. In 2018 Renault Trucks Defense, ACMAT and Panhard combined under a single brand, Arquus. (Full article...)

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Ferruccio Lamborghini Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (Italian: [ferˈruttʃo lamborˈɡiːni]; 28 April 1916 – 20 February 1993) was an Italian automobile designer, soldier, inventor, mechanic, engineer, winemaker, industrialist, and businessman who created Lamborghini Trattori in 1948 and the Automobili Lamborghini in 1963, a maker of high-end sports cars in Sant'Agata Bolognese.

Born to grape farmers in Renazzo, from the comune (municipality) of Cento, in the Emilia-Romagna region, his mechanical know-how led him to enter the business of tractor manufacturing in 1948, when he founded Lamborghini Trattori, which quickly became an important manufacturer of agricultural equipment in the midst of Italy's post-WWII economic boom. In 1959, he opened an oil burner factory, Lamborghini Bruciatori, which later entered the business of producing air conditioning equipment. (Full article...)

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On this day July 31

1916 — Female racing driver Louise Smith is born

1990 — Roger B. Smith replaces Robert Stempel as chairman of General Motors

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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 2011 Ford Crown Victoria was the last car to offer a cassette tape player as an option?
...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?
...that the name Volvo really means 'I Roll?' That's how Volvo rolls.

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Selected quote of the day

Those of us who move will die. Those who don't are already dead.

—Jean Behra, 1950s Formula One racing driver, on continuing to race while knowing the risks

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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 2In 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 3The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 4Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 5Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 6The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 71958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 81974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 9Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 10Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 11Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 121954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 13Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 14The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 15The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 161926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 17Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 181885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 19A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 20The second Marcus car of 1888 (from History of the automobile)
Image 21A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 22The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 23Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 24Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 252011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 26Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 27The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 28Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 291929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 30The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 31Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 321946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 33Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 341924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
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 36Stuttgart, 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 37A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 381959 Morris Mini-Minor (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 401929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 41A 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 42A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 43Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 44The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 45The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 46Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 47Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 48Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 49Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 50The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)