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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The Maserati MC12 (Tipo M144S) is a limited production two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati from 2004 to 2005, 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 150 mm 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 car 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. (Full article...)

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Porsche 911 GT3 Touring

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Schweitzer in 1994

Louis Schweitzer (8 July 1942 – 6 November 2025) was a French businessman who was a chairman of the board of Groupe Renault, first taking the post on 27 May 1992, succeeding Raymond Lévy. He was also CEO from 1992 to 2005. He was in addition Chairman of AstraZeneca until 8 June 2012 where he was appointed a Director on 11 March 2004. He was a non-executive director of BNP Paribas, Electricité de France, Veolia Environnement, Volvo AB and L'Oréal, and Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Philips Electronics NV. (Full article...)

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On this day August 3

1900 — The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company begins production in Akron, Ohio

1924 — The legendary Bugatti Type 35 debuts at the Grand Prix of Lyon.

1971 — W. O. Bentley dies

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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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People can have the Model T in any color -- so long as it's black.

—Henry Ford

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General images

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

Image 1A 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 2Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 3The second Marcus car of 1888 (from History of the automobile)
Image 4Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 51924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 6Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 7A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 81959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 9Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 10A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 111974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 121926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 13A 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 14The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 15The first practical car, Carl Benz's Patent-Motorwagen Nr. 2 of 1886 (image from 1888) (from Car)
Image 16The 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 17The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 18Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 19The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 20Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 211946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with a pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 22The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 231987 Renault Espace (from History of the automobile)
Image 24A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 25Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 26The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 27Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 28Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 29Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 30Stuttgart, 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 311982 Toyota Camry (from History of the automobile)
Image 32The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 33Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 34Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 35The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 362011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 37Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 381955 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible (from History of the automobile)
Image 39Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 40In 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 41Carl Benz, creator of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, considered by many as the first modern car. (from History of the automobile)
Image 42The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 43The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 44Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 451929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 461929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 47Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 48A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 49The 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)