The Cars PortalA car (or automobile) is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transportation. 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 came into global use during the 20th century, and developed economies depend on them. The year 1886 is regarded as the birth year of the modern car when German inventor Karl Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen. Cars became widely available in the early 20th century. One of the first cars accessible to 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 animal-drawn carriages and carts, but took much longer to be accepted in Western Europe and other parts of the world. 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, but also more reliable and easier to operate. These include rear-reversing cameras, air conditioning, navigation systems, and in-car entertainment. Most cars in use in the 2010s 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 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...) Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
The RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's common "RennSport" (lit.: racing sports) designation). The car marked Porsche's first return to the top level of sports prototype racing since the firm abandoned its Porsche LMP in 1999. The RS Spyder made its debut in the final event of the 2005 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at Laguna Seca winning its class. Since then the RS Spyder has won the ALMS LMP2 Championship in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and took class honours at Le Mans in 2008 and 2009. The outright victory at the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring was the first major victory for Porsche in endurance racing for five years and it was also the first time in 14 years that the non-premier class won the 12 Hours of Sebring overall. Regulation changes for the 2011 season rendered the RS Spyder obsolete but the car has left a legacy in the Porsche 918 Spyder, which uses a development of the RS Spyder's engine and the Porsche 919 Hybrid which carried Porsche's racing program on into the LMP1 category starting in 2014. (Full article...)Selected article -The DMC DeLorean (often referred to simply as the "DeLorean") is a sports car and was the only automobile manufactured by John DeLorean's DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) for the American market from 1981 to 1983. The car was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and stood out for its gull-wing doors and brushed stainless-steel outer body panels. It became widely known for its disappointing lack of power and performance, which did not match the expectations created by its looks and price tag. Though its production was short-lived, the car was made memorable through its appearances as the time machine in the Back to the Future media franchise after 1985. Throughout production, the car kept its basic styling, although minor revisions were made to the hood and wheels. The first production car was completed on January 21, 1981. About 9,000 DeLoreans were made before production halted in late December 1982 shortly after DMC filed for bankruptcy. (Full article...)
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Selected biography -Jeffrey Brian ("J. B.") Straubel (born December 20, 1975) is an American businessman. J.B. spent 15 years at Tesla, as Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer until moving to an advisory role in July 2019. In 2017, Straubel established Redwood Materials, working on the recycling of lithium-ion batteries and e-waste. (Full article...)On this day February 27
Selected quote of the dayWe could remain independent while we had a fighting chance. Emissions and new Japanese competition showed us we didn't. —Sir John Egan, explaining the sale of Jaguar Cars to Ford Did you know...
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