Portal:Cars

The Cars Portal

The Toyota Corolla, which has been in production since 1966, is the best-selling series of automobile 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 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 important 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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Chrysler Turbine Car at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, Michigan

The Chrysler Turbine Car is an experimental two-door hardtop coupe powered by a turbine engine and was manufactured by Chrysler from 1963 to 1964. Italian design studio Carrozzeria Ghia constructed the bodywork, and Chrysler completed the final assembly in Detroit. A total of 55 cars were manufactured: five prototypes and a limited run of fifty cars for a public user program. All have a signature metallic paint named "turbine bronze", roughly the color of root beer. The car was styled by Elwood Engel and Chrysler studios. They featured power brakes, power steering, and a TorqueFlite transmission.

The Chrysler turbine engine program that produced the Turbine Car began during the late 1930s and created prototypes that completed long-distance trips in the 1950s and early 1960s. The A-831 engines that powered the Ghia-designed Turbine Car could operate on many fuels, required less maintenance, and lasted longer than conventional piston engines. However, they were much more expensive to produce. (Full article...)

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From left to right: Giotto Bizzarrini, Ferruccio Lamborghini and Giampaolo Dallara at Sant'Agata Bolognese in 1963, with a Lamborghini V12 engine prototype.

The Lamborghini V12 refers to the flagship V12 engine used by Lamborghini. Lamborghini has had two generations of V12 engines through their history, both of which were developed in-house. The first-generation Lamborghini V12 was a sixty degree (60°) V12 petrol engine designed by Lamborghini, and was the first internal combustion engine ever produced by the firm.

It entered production in 1963 as a 3.5 litre displacing 3,465 cubic centimetres (211.4 cu in) fitted on Lamborghini's first car, the Lamborghini 350GT. The engine remained in use for almost fifty years; the final version of 6.5 litre displacement was installed in the Lamborghini Murciélago. Lamborghini discontinued their first-generation V12 after the Murcielago, opting for a brand-new V12 that first saw use on the Lamborghini Aventador.

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Toyota FJ Cruiser

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Toyoda before 1952

Kiichiro Toyoda (Japanese: 豊田喜一郎（とよだきいちろう）, Hepburn: Toyoda Kiichirō, June 11, 1894 – March 27, 1952) was a Japanese businessman and the son of Toyoda Loom Works founder Sakichi Toyoda. His decision to change Toyoda's focus from automatic loom manufacture into automobile manufacturing created what later became Toyota Motor Corporation. (Full article...)

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On this day November 24

Portal:Cars/Anniversaries/November 24

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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

If you can find a better car, buy it!

—Lee Iacocca's pitch to buyers of the K-car line that saved Chrysler Corporation from insolvency in the 1980s

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General images

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

Image 1Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 2A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 3Stuttgart, 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 4A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 5The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 6A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 7Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 8Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 9Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 10Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 11The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 12Trucks' 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 13The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 14Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 15Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 16The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 17A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 18Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 19The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 201954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 21The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 221958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 231929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 24Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 252011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 26The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 27Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 28Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 291959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 301929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 311974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 32Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 33The 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 341946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 351924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 36Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 37Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 38A 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 39Gurgel Supermini (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 41The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 42The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 431926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 44Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 45The second Marcus car of 1888 (from History of the automobile)
Image 46The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 47In 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 48Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 49Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 501885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)