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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The Maserati MC12 (Tipo M144S) is a limited production two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship. The car entered production in 2004, with 25 cars produced. A further 25 were produced in 2005 after the FIA changed the rules and reduced the maximum length allowed. The second batch of 25 are 150mm shorter than the originals, making a total of 50 cars available for customers. With the addition of 12 cars produced for racing, a total of just 62 were ever produced.

Maserati designed and built the car on the chassis of the Ferrari Enzo, but the final car is much larger and has a lower drag coefficient, along with being longer, wider and taller and has a sharper nose and smoother curves than the Enzo. The Enzo had quicker acceleration, shorter braking distance, and a higher top speed at 350 km/h (217 mph), 20 km/h (12 mph) more than the MC12. (Full article...)

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Headquarters in Modena, Italy

Maserati S.p.A. (Italian: [mazeˈraːti]) is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Maserati was initially associated with Ferrari. In May 2014, due to ambitious plans and product launches, Maserati sold a record of over 3,000 cars in one month. This caused them to increase production of the Quattroporte and Ghibli models. In addition to the Ghibli and Quattroporte, Maserati offers the Maserati GranTurismo and two SUV models, the Maserati Levante (the first ever Maserati SUV) and the Maserati Grecale. Maserati has placed a yearly production output cap at 75,000 vehicles globally. (Full article...)

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Carl (or Karl) Friedrich Benz (German: [kaʁl ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈbɛnts] ^ⓘ; born Karl Friedrich Michael Vaillant; 25 November 1844 – 4 April 1929) was a German engine designer and automotive engineer. His Benz Patent Motorcar from 1885 is considered the first practical modern automobile and first car put into series production. He received a patent for the motorcar in 1886, the same year he first publicly drove the Benz Patent-Motorwagen.

His company Benz & Cie., based in Mannheim, was the world's first automobile plant and largest of its day. In 1926, it merged with Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft to form Daimler-Benz, which produces the Mercedes-Benz among other brands. (Full article...)

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On this day May 18

2005 — Toyota announces plans to recall 880,000 trucks over rollover concerns.

2006 — Production of the Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Sebring sedans and convertibles ends at the Sterling Heights Assembly plant.

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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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Selected quote of the day

The client is not always right

—Enzo Ferrari

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General images

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

Image 11929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 2Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 31924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 4The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 5Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 61958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 7In 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 8Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 9Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 101926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 11Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 12The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 131885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 14A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 15The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 161974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 17Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 18Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 19The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 20Scaled model of the second Marcus car of 1875 (from History of the automobile)
Image 21Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 22A 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 231954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 24A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 25Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 26The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 272011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 28A 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 291946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 30Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 31A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 321959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 33The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 341929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 35Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 36Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
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 39Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 40The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 41Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 42Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 43The 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 44Stuttgart, 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 45Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 46Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 47A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 48The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 49Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 50Trucks' 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)