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. There are around one billion cars in use worldwide. The car is considered an essential part of the developed economy.

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 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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Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC is the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover, also known as JLR, and is a British multinational automobile manufacturer which produces luxury vehicles and SUV and has its head office in Whitley, Coventry, United Kingdom. The principal activity of Jaguar Land Rover is the design, development, manufacture and sale of vehicles bearing the Jaguar and Land Rover marques.

Both marques have long histories prior to their merger – Jaguar going back to the 1930s and Land Rover to the 1940s – first coming together in 1968 as part of the British Leyland conglomerate, later again independent of each other, and then as subsidiaries of BMW (in the case of Land Rover), and Ford Motor Company (Jaguar). In 2000, Rover Group was broken up by BMW and Land Rover was sold on to Ford Motor Company, becoming part of its Premier Automotive Group. (Full article...)

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1928 Model A Ford

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Kjell Qvale (July 7, 1919 – November 2, 2013) was a Norwegian-American business executive. Qvale was one of the key figures in the creation of the Jensen-Healey. Qvale became the first distributor for Jaguar on the West Coast. Qvale was one of the founders of the San Francisco Auto Show and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. He was credited with the concept of the Corkscrew signature corner of Laguna Seca. (Full article...)

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On this day August 27

1904 — The first person ever jailed for speeding is sentenced in Newport, Rhode Island

1957 — Ford Motor Company officially unveils the Edsel to the press

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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

We could remain independent while we had a fighting chance. Emissions and new Japanese competition showed us we didn't.

—Sir John Egan, explaining the sale of Jaguar Cars to Ford

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General images

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

Image 11929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 2The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 3A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 4Trucks' 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 51958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 61926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 7The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 8In 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 9Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 10Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 11Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 12Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 13A 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 14The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 15Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 161929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 171885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 18Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 19Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 201954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 21A 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 22The second Marcus car of 1888 (from History of the automobile)
Image 231959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 24The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 251946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 26Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 27Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 28The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 29Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 30The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 31Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 32A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 331924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 34Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 35A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 36The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 37The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 38The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 39Stuttgart, 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 40Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 41Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 42The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 431974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 44Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 452011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 46Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 47The 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 48Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 49Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 50A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)