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). 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 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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![]() Tenth generation model (2014–2020) |
The Chevrolet Impala (/ɪmˈpælə, -ˈpɑːlə/) is a full-size car built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 to 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better-selling American-made automobiles in the United States.
For its debut in 1958 the Impala was distinguished from other models by its symmetrical triple taillights. The Chevrolet Caprice was introduced as a top-line Impala Sport Sedan for model year 1965, later becoming a separate series positioned above the Impala in 1966, which, in turn, remained above the Chevrolet Bel Air and the Chevrolet Biscayne. The Impala continued as Chevrolet's most popular full-sized model through the mid-1980s. Between 1994 and 1996 the Impala was revised as a 5.7-liter V8–powered version of the Chevrolet Caprice Classic sedan. (Full article...)Selected picture of the day
![]() Mini Cooper |
Mini Cooper |
Selected biography -
![]() André Michelin in 1920 |
André Jules Michelin (16 January 1853 – 4 April 1931) was a French industrialist who, with his brother Édouard (1859–1940), founded the Michelin Tyre Company (Compagnie Générale des Établissements Michelin) in 1888 in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand.
In 1900, André Michelin published the first Michelin Guide, the purpose of which was to promote tourism by car, thereby supporting his tyre manufacturing operation. (Full article...)On this day April 5
- 1992 — The board of directors at General Motors forces president Lloyd Reuss to step aside in favor of John F. Smith, and Robert Stempel loses his chairmanship.
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
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
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