Portal:Cars

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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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Renault Korea Co., Ltd. (Korean: 르노코리아) is a South Korean car manufacturer headquartered in Busan where its single assembly site is also located, with additional facilities at Seoul (administration), Giheung (research and development) and Daegu (vehicle testing).

The company was first established as Samsung Motors in 1994 by the chaebol Samsung, with technical assistance from Nissan. It started selling cars in 1998, just before South Korea was hit by the East Asian financial crisis. In 2000, it became a subsidiary of the French car manufacturer Renault, being renamed Renault Samsung Motors, while Samsung maintained a minority ownership. It adopted Renault Korea Motors as trade name in March 2022 and as its legal name in August. In December 2022, Geely acquired a minority ownership in the company through capital increase as part of wider partnership agreement with Renault, although it still is a consolidated subsidiary of the latter. (Full article...)

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Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (abbreviated as DMG, also known as Daimler Motors Corporation) was a German engineering company and later automobile manufacturer, in operation from 1890 until 1926. Founded by Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900) and Wilhelm Maybach (1846–1929), it was based first in Cannstatt (today Bad Cannstatt, a city district of Stuttgart). Daimler died in 1900, and their business moved in 1903 to Stuttgart-Untertürkheim after the original factory was destroyed by fire, and again to Berlin in 1922. Other factories were located in Marienfelde (near Berlin) and Sindelfingen (next to Stuttgart).

The enterprise began to produce petrol engines but after the success of a small number of race cars built on contract by Wilhelm Maybach for Emil Jellinek, it began to produce the Mercedes model of 1902. After this automobile production expanded to become DMG's main product, and it built several models. (Full article...)

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Mini Cooper

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Nicolaus August Otto circa 1868

Nicolaus August Otto (German pronunciation: [ˈnɪkolaʊ̯s ˈaʊ̯ɡʊst ˈɔto]; 10 June 1832 – 26 January 1891) was a German engineer who successfully developed the compressed charge internal combustion engine which ran on petroleum gas and led to the modern internal combustion engine. The Association of German Engineers (VDI) created DIN standard 1940 which says "Otto Engine: internal combustion engine in which the ignition of the compressed fuel-air mixture is initiated by a timed spark", which has been applied to all engines of this type since. (Full article...)

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On this day May 5

2005 — Standard and Poors reclassifies General Motors and Ford Motor Company debt as junk bonds

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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

Our mission is to offer the top performance sportscar manufactured legal for US roads. The sport in sportscar is motorsports, and in our case that means racing at road courses that include Daytona, Sebring, Road America, Watkin's Glen, Laguna Seca, Three Rivers, Homestead, and the like.

My cars are designed to be capable of the lowest lap times of any car manufactured US legal on tracks like these. The development process includes extensive racing at the professional level, where performance and durability are enhanced and demonstrated

—Warren Mosler

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General images

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

Image 12011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 2A 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 3Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 4The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 5Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 6Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 71974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 8The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 91946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with a pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 10Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 11Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 121987 Renault Espace (from History of the automobile)
Image 13Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 14The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 15The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 16The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 171929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 18A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 19Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 20The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 21Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 22A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 231955 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible (from History of the automobile)
Image 241926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 25The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 261929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 27A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 28The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 29Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 30Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 31Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 32Stuttgart, 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 33Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 341924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 351982 Toyota Camry (from History of the automobile)
Image 36A 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 371885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 38The second Marcus car of 1888 (from History of the automobile)
Image 39In 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 40Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 41Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 42The 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 43Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 44Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 451959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 46A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 47Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 48The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 49The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)