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 automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people, not cargo.

French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built the first steam-powered road vehicle in 1769, while 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 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 1908 Model T, 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 lights. 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, fuelled 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 gasoline cars before 2025. The transition from fossil fuels 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 Lotus T128 is a Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) designed by former Sauber technical director James Key and built by Advanced Design and Engineering Systems Solutions (ADESS) and Kodewa. It was used by Kodewa in the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship under the name Lotus. Stéphane Chosse, the founder of ADESS, first proposed building a Le Mans prototype car in March 2011. The vehicle's construction began in February 2013, eleven months after Kodewa acquired two chassis. The T128's aerodynamic study was carried out using a computer-aided software mesh tool from Altair Engineering, and aerodynamics was the main priority in its design, with Chosse taking a similar approach as when he was involved in Formula One. It uses a naturally aspirated V8 engine from the BMW S65, which is also used in the company's M3 model, and produces around 450 horsepower (340 kW).

The programme was officially announced during the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans race weekend, and its scheduled first test in December was delayed by seven weeks to allow for the installation of additional parts. Both cars failed to finish the season-opening 2013 6 Hours of Silverstone but finished in the top six at Spa-Francorchamps. A legal dispute over unpaid invoices arose during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, resulting in the cars being temporarily seized by bailiffs until a Le Mans court ordered their return after Lotus proved that the invoices were fictitious. Both cars failed to finish the race and the subsequent round in São Paulo. Lotus took their only podium of the season at the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas, but finished no higher than sixth in the final three races. The two T128s finished seventh and eighth in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams. After the season, Lotus moved into LMP1 and replaced the T128s with a new car, the CLM P1/01. (Full article...)

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Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Japanese: 本田技研工業株式会社, Hepburn: Honda Giken Kōgyō KK, IPA: [honda] (listen); /ˈhɒndə/; commonly known as simply Honda) is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.

Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a production of 400 million by the end of 2019. It is also the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. Honda became the second-largest Japanese automobile manufacturer in 2001. In 2015, Honda was the eighth largest automobile manufacturer in the world. (Full article...)

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all generations of the Nissan Skyline

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Soichiro Honda (本田宗一郎, Honda Sōichirō, 17 November 1906 – 5 August 1991) was a Japanese engineer and industrialist. In 1948, he established Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and oversaw its expansion from a wooden shack manufacturing bicycle motors to a multinational automobile and motorcycle manufacturer. (Full article...)

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On this day May 20

1841 — Italian automotive pioneer Enrico Bernardi is born.

1899 — A New York City taxi driver is the first person to be charged with speeding — he was traveling at 12 mph (19 km/h)

1994 — The last Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz are built.

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?

Selected quote of the day

If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough

—Mario Andretti

Topics

General images

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

Image 1A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 21974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 3The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 4Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 5The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, first built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 6The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 7A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 8Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 9In 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 10Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 11A 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 12Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 13Henry Ford founded Ford Motor Company in 1903. (from Car)
Image 14The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 15Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 16Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris, France (from Car)
Image 172011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 18Steam Machine Of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 19The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 20Low battery and motors can improve safety (from Car)
Image 21A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 221929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 23The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 24The second Marcus car of 1875 at the Technical Museum in Vienna (from History of the automobile)
Image 25Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 26The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 27Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 281959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 29Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 30The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 31Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 32Kiichiro Toyoda, president of the Toyota Motor Corporation 1941–1950 (from Car)
Image 33Armand Peugeot (from Car)
Image 341924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 351954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 36Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 371885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 38A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 39Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 40The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 41Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 421958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 43Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 441929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 45Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 461926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 47Émile Levassor (from Car)
Image 48This exhaust gas is not the only car pollution
Image 49Gustave Trouvé's tricycle, the first electric automobile to be demonstrated in public (from Car)
Image 50Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 511946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 521927 Ford Model T (from Car)

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