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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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

2008 Holden Calais (VE MY09) V sedan

The Holden Commodore (VE) is a full-size car that was manufactured by Holden, an Australian subsidiary of General Motors from 2006 to 2013. The range includes the luxury variants, the Holden Berlina (VE) and Holden Calais (VE), as well as a utility model marketed as the Holden Ute (VE).

Succeeding the VZ series, the VE represented the first iteration of the fourth generation of the Holden Commodore, a series of automobiles built since 1978. As opposed to the VE's predecessors which used Opel-sourced platforms adapted mechanically and in size for the local market, the re-engineered VE was the first Commodore to be developed wholly by Holden in Australia. Despite its status as an all-new model, engines—comprising the 3.6-litre V6 and the 6.0-litre V8—have been largely carried over from the VZ series. Innovative features to minimise export redevelopment costs, such as a symmetrical centre console housing a flush-fitting hand brake lever, facilitated the conversion to left-hand drive. Internationally, the VE was badge engineered as the Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Omega, Bitter Vero Sport and Pontiac G8. (Full article...)

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The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, repairing, and modification of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16% such as in France up to 40% to countries like Slovakia).

The word automotive comes from the Greek autos (self), and Latin motivus (of motion), referring to any form of self-powered vehicle. This term, as proposed by Elmer Sperry^{[need quotation to verify]} (1860–1930), first came into use to describe automobiles in 1898. (Full article...)

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1999 Mazda Miata (MX-5)

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Kenichi Yamamoto (山本健一, Yamamoto Kenichi, 16 September 1922 – 20 December 2017) was a Japanese mechanical engineer and business executive. He supervised the development of the Mazda Wankel rotary combustion engine, and served as Mazda's President (1984–1987) and Chairman (1987–1992). (Full article...)

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On this day May 4

2005 — Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian raises his holdings in General Motors to 9% as the company's financial crisis worsens.

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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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Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines.

—Enzo Ferrari responding to driver Paul Frère as to why his 250 TR had a limited top speed on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans

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General images

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

Image 1Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 2A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 3In 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 4The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 5Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 6Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 71924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 8Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 9The 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 10Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
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 13Trucks' 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 14Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 151974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 161959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 17Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 18Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 191885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 201946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 21The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 22A 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 23The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 24Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 25The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 26Stuttgart, 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 27A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 281929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 29Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 30The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 31The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 321929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 33Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 34The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 35A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 36Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 37Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 38Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 391954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 40A 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 41Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 42Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 43A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 44The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 452011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 46Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 47The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 481958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 49Scaled model of the second Marcus car of 1875 (from History of the automobile)
Image 50Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)