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 (rather than goods).

Cars were invented in 1886, when German inventor Carl Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen. 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 Maserati MC12 (Tipo M144S) is a limited production two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati 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 150mm 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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Maserati S.p.A. (Italian: [mazeˈraːti]) is an Italian luxury vehicle 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. Maserati was initially associated with Ferrari. In May 2014, due to ambitious plans and product launches, Maserati sold a record of over 3,000 cars in one month. This caused them to increase production of the Quattroporte and Ghibli models. In addition to the Ghibli and Quattroporte, Maserati offers the Maserati GranTurismo and the Maserati Levante (the first ever Maserati SUV). Maserati has placed a yearly production output cap at 75,000 vehicles globally. (Full article...)

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Maserati Spyder

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Karl-Gottfried "Karlfried" Nordmann (22 November 1915 – 22 July 1982) was a German Luftwaffe pilot during World War II and, after the war, a president of Mercedes-Benz in North America. As a fighter ace he was credited with 78 enemy aircraft shot down in over 800 combat missions. He claimed the majority of his victories over the Eastern Front, with one during the Invasion of Poland and eight during the Battle of France and Britain.

Born in Giessen, Nordmann volunteered for military service in the Luftwaffe of the Third Reich in 1936. Following flight training, he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 132 (JG 132—132nd Fighter Wing) in October 1938. After a series of redesignations his unit was subordinated to Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing). He fought in the aerial battles over Poland, France and Britain, claiming nine victories. Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, he was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of the IV. Gruppe (4th Group) of JG 51. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 1 August 1941 following his 31st aerial victory and received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 16 September 1941 after 59 victories. The Oak Leaves grades to the Knight's Cross was Germany's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to Nordmann. (Full article...)

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On this day February 16

1843 — Henry M. Leland born

2005 — Fiat S.p.A. splits Maserati from Ferrari

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

The public don't know what they want; it's my job to tell them.

—Alec Issigonis

Topics

General images

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

Image 1Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 21927 Ford Model T (from Car)
Image 3Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 4The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, first built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 5The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 6Low battery and motors can improve safety (from Car)
Image 7A 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 81924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 9Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 10A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 11Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 12Kiichiro Toyoda, president of the Toyota Motor Corporation 1941–1950 (from Car)
Image 131958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 14In 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 151974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 16This exhaust gas is not the only car pollution
Image 17German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 181954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 191959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 20The second Marcus car of 1875 at the Technical Museum in Vienna (from History of the automobile)
Image 21The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 22Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 23Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 24Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 25Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris, France (from Car)
Image 26Mass production at a Toyota plant in the 1950s (from Car)
Image 27Émile Levassor (from Car)
Image 282011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 29Steam Machine Of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 30Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 31A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 32Henry Ford founded Ford Motor Company in 1903. (from Car)
Image 33Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 34The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 351926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 36Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 37Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 38Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 391929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 40A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 41The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 421885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first car to go into production with an internal combustion engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 431946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 44Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 45Armand Peugeot (from Car)
Image 46The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 47A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 481929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 49The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 50The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 51Gustave Trouvé's tricycle, the first ever electric automobile to be shown in public (from Car)
Image 52Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)

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