Portal:Cars

The Cars Portal

The Toyota Corolla, which has been in production since 1966, is the best-selling series of automobile of all time.

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 rather than cargo. There are around one billion cars in use worldwide.

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. The 1901 Oldsmobile Curved Dash and the 1908 Ford Model T, both American cars, are widely considered the first mass-produced and mass-affordable cars, respectively. 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. In the 21st century, car usage is still increasing rapidly, especially in China, India, and other newly industrialised countries.

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 widespread in the 2020s. 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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BT46B "fan car" at Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2001 (Full article...)

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Subaru (スバル; /ˈsuːbəruː/ or /sʊˈbɑːruː/; Japanese pronunciation: [sɯꜜbaɾɯ]) is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the twenty-first largest automaker by production worldwide in 2017.

Subaru cars are known for their use of a boxer engine layout in most vehicles above 1,500 cc. The Symmetrical All Wheel Drive drive-train layout was introduced in 1972. Both became standard equipment for mid-size and smaller cars in most markets by 1996. The lone exception is the BRZ, introduced in 2012 via a partnership with Toyota, which pairs the boxer engine with rear-wheel-drive. Subaru also offers turbocharged versions of their passenger cars, such as the WRX, Levorg sti, Outback XT, Ascent, and formerly the Legacy GT, Legacy XT, and Forester XT. (Full article...)

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McLaren F1

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Marchionne in 2007

Sergio Marchionne (Italian: [ˈsɛrdʒo marˈkjɔnne]; 17 June 1952 – 25 July 2018) was an Italian-Canadian businessman, widely known for his turnarounds of the automakers Fiat and Chrysler, his business acumen and his outspoken and often frank approach, especially when dealing with unpalatable issues related to his companies and the automotive industry.

Marchionne was the chairman of CNH Industrial, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), the chairman and CEO of FCA US LLC, the chairman and CEO of Ferrari, and the chairman of Maserati. He was the chairman of Swiss-based SGS and vice chairman of UBS from 2008 to 2010, as well as the chairman of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association for 2012 (first elected in January 2006). He was a member of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and the chairman of the Italian branch of the Council for the United States and Italy. (Full article...)

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On this day July 30

1863 — Henry Ford is born

1990 — The first Saturn is produced, a red metallic sedan driven off the line by GM chairman Roger Smith and UAW president Owen Bieber

2003 — The 21,529,464th and final Volkswagen Beetle is built after 65 years in production.

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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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To Users, Agents, Importers, Dealers and Manufacturers of Gasolene Automobiles:

United States Letters Patent No. 549,160, granted to George B. Selden, November 5, 1895, controls broadly the commercial forms of gasolene automobiles. ... Both the Basic Selden patent and all other patents owned as aforesaid will be enforced against all infringers.

—1904 advertisement by the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers exhorting compliance with the Selden patent

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General images

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

Image 1Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 2The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 31924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 4The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 51955 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible (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 7Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 8Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 9Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 10A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
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 12In 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 13Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 14Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 15A Tesla Model Y electric car, the world's best-selling electric car, and the best selling nameplate in 2023. (from History of the automobile)
Image 16Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 17The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 18Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 191946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with a pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 20Stuttgart, 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 21Trucks' 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 22The second Marcus car of 1888 (from History of the automobile)
Image 23The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 241929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 25The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 261982 Toyota Camry (from History of the automobile)
Image 271974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 28Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 29The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 301926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 311959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 32A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 33The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 341885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 35Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 36A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 37The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 381929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 39Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 40Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 41Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 42The 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 43Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 44Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 451987 Renault Espace (from History of the automobile)
Image 462011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 47Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 48The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 49The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 50A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)