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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Ford Falcon (BA II) Futura sedan

The Ford Falcon (BA) is a full-sized car produced by Ford Australia from 2002 to 2005. It was the second significantly re-engineered iteration of the sixth generation of the Falcon, and also included the Ford Fairmont (BA)—the luxury-oriented version. This platform also formed the basis of the Ford Territory sport utility vehicle.

To address the relatively poor reception of the preceding AU series, the BA series was heavily updated for launch in September 2002—the same time as its biggest rival, the Holden Commodore (VY). It featured a substantially revised and more conservative exterior styling, with every panel new except for the carry-over door skins. Interiors, too, were substantially revised, while mechanically, a new independent rear suspension setup was fitted to all sedan derivatives and the engine and transmissions received extensive upgrades. In October 2004, Ford introduced a Mark II update, bringing subtle styling and mechanical changes, and in October 2005, replaced the BA with the BF. (Full article...)

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Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac, (/ˈkædɪlæk/) is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China. Cadillac models are distributed in 34 additional markets worldwide. Historically, Cadillac automobiles were at the top of the luxury field within the United States, but have been outsold by European luxury brands including BMW and Mercedes since the 2000s. In 2019, Cadillac sold 390,458 vehicles worldwide, a record for the brand.

Cadillac is among the first automotive brands in the world, fourth in the United States only to Autocar Company (1897) and fellow GM marques Oldsmobile (1897) and Buick (1899). It was named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (1658–1730), who founded Detroit, Michigan. The Cadillac crest is based on his coat of arms. (Full article...)

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Manley in 2019 with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Michael Manley, often known as Mike Manley (born 6 March 1964) is an English businessman and current CEO of American automotive retailer AutoNation. He previously served as managing director of the North American operations of Stellantis. In 2018 Manley was appointed as CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), following the announcement that previous CEO Sergio Marchionne would step down for health reasons. (Full article...)

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On this day May 28

1999 — Delphi Corporation becomes independent 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 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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This type of technology, unheard of 10 or 15 years ago, is real. And it's coming. It's just another step toward the fully automated driving experience. Which is anathema to those of us who are drivers' drivers who are suckers for the thrill of controlling a speed machine.

But that's why people like us will always have motorcycles!

—Bob Lutz on the possibilities of future automated automobiles

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General images

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

Image 11959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 2A 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 3Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 4The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 5The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 6A 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 7The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 8A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 91946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 10Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 11The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 121926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 13Scaled model of the second Marcus car of 1875 (from History of the automobile)
Image 14Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 15The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 16Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 17Stuttgart, 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 181974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 19The 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 20Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 21Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 22The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 23Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 24The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 25Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 26A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 27The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 28Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 29Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
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 31In 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 32The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 33Volkswagen Beetle (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 35The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 36Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 371954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 381958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 39Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 40Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 411929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 421924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 43A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 442011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 45Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 461929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 47Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 48A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 49Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 50Result of a serious car collision (from Car)