Portal:Cars

The Cars Portal

The Ford Model T, produced from 1908 to 1927, is widely credited with being the first mass-affordable automobile, and it remains one of the best-selling cars 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 1-8 people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are over 1.6 billion cars in use worldwide as of 2025.

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 widespread in the 2020s. The transition from fossil-fuel-powered cars to electric cars is a central feature of most climate change mitigation scenarios. (Full article...)

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

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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This list of motor vehicle awards is an index to articles that describe notable awards given to motor vehicles. The list is broken into "car of the year", other car awards, awards for commercial vehicles including trucks and trains, engines and people. The sub-lists are arranged by the country of the sponsoring organization, but typically awards are open to entries from around the world. (Full article...)

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McLaren F1

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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 May 30

1911 — Ray Harroun wins the first Indianapolis 500

1967 — Mazda begins selling the Wankel engined Cosmo 110 Sport

2006 — The first front wheel drive Jeep, the Compass, is built.

2007 — Ford ceases operations at the Windsor Casting plant after 73 years.

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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

To Users, Agents, Importers, Dealers and Manufacturers of Gasolene Automobiles:

United States Letters Patent No. 549,160, granted to George B. Selden, November 5, 1895, controls broadly the commercial forms of gasolene automobiles. ... Both the Basic Selden patent and all other patents owned as aforesaid will be enforced against all infringers.

—1904 advertisement by the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers exhorting compliance with the Selden patent

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General images

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

Image 1Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 21946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with a pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 3Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 41955 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible (from History of the automobile)
Image 5The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 6A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 7Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 8Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 9A 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 10Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 111929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 12Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 13The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 14Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 151929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 16Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 17The 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 18A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 191982 Toyota Camry (from History of the automobile)
Image 20Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 21Stuttgart, 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 221974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 23The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 242011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 25Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 261959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 27The first production car: 1888 Benz Patent-Motorwagen Model 2 on loan from Science Museum, London to Automuseum Dr Carl Benz, Ladenburg, 2014 (from Car)
Image 281987 Renault Espace (from History of the automobile)
Image 29The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 30A Tesla Model Y electric car, the world's best-selling electric car, and the best selling nameplate in 2023. (from History of the automobile)
Image 311926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 32Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 33In 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 34The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 35Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 36Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 371924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 38A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 39The first practical car, Carl Benz's Patent-Motorwagen Nr. 2 of 1886 (image from 1888) (from Car)
Image 40Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 41A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 42The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 43The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 44The second Marcus car of 1888 (from History of the automobile)
Image 45The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 46The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 47Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 48Carl Benz, creator of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, considered by many as the first modern car. (from History of the automobile)
Image 49Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)