Portal:Cars

The Cars Portal

The Ford Model T, produced from 1908 to 1927, is widely credited with being the first mass-affordable automobile, and it remains one of the best-selling cars 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 1-8 people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are over 1.6 billion cars in use worldwide as of 2025.

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. (Full article...)

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Talbot Tagora 2.2 saloon

The Talbot Tagora is an executive car developed by Chrysler Europe and produced by Peugeot Société Anonyme (PSA). The Tagora was marketed under the Talbot marque after PSA took over Chrysler's European operations in 1979. PSA presented the first production vehicle in 1980 and launched it commercially in 1981. The Tagora fell short of sales expectations, described as a "showroom flop" just a year after its launch, and PSA cancelled the model two years later. Fewer than 20,000 Tagora models were built, all of them at the former Simca factory in Poissy, near Paris, France. (Full article...)

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1959 Morris Mini-Minor (first one built)

The Mini is a two-door, four-seat small car produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally (briefly) under BMW ownership. Minis were built as fastbacks, estates, convertibles, and various other body styles. Minus a brief 1990s hiatus, from 1959 into 2000, an estimated 5.38 million of all variations combined were built, and the Mini's engines also powered another 2 million Mini Metros, though the Mini eventually outlasted its successor.

Initially, the Mini was marketed under the Austin and Morris names, as the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor; the Austin Seven was renamed Austin Mini in 1962 and Mini became a marque in its own right in 1969. Retrospectively, the car is known as the "Classic Mini" to distinguish it from the modern MINI family of vehicles produced since 2001 by German carmaker BMW, who took ownership of the Mini name following the sale of Rover Group in 2000. (Full article...)

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Volkswagen Polo Mk3

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Straubel in 2012

Jeffrey Brian Straubel (/ˈstraʊbəl/; born December 20, 1975) is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He spent 15 years at Tesla, as chief technical officer until moving to an advisory role in July 2019. In 2023, he was elected to the company's board of directors.

In 2017, Straubel founded and became the CEO of Redwood Materials, Inc., working on creating battery materials and products for lithium-ion batteries out of recycled batteries. (Full article...)

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On this day January 6

1925 — John DeLorean is born

2003 — The Acura TSX debuts at the North American International Auto Show

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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

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 12011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 2Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 3The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 4Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 5The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 61987 Renault Espace (from History of the automobile)
Image 71929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 8The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 9Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 101946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with a pontoon design (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 12Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 13Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 14Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 151959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 16A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 17The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 181974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 19Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
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 211885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 22A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 23A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 24Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 25A 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 261955 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible (from History of the automobile)
Image 27The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 28The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 29In 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 30The 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 31Trucks' 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 32A 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 331982 Toyota Camry (from History of the automobile)
Image 341929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 35Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 361926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 37The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 38The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 391924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 40A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 41Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 42Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 43The second Marcus car of 1888 (from History of the automobile)
Image 44Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 45Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 46Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 47The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 48The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 49Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 50Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)