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The Toyota Corolla, which has been in production since 1966, is the best-selling series of automobile 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 one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billion cars in use worldwide.

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 are predicted to cost less to buy than petrol-driven cars before 2025. The transition from fossil fuel-powered cars 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 Holden Commodore (VE) is a full-size car that was produced from 2006 to 2013 by Holden—the Australian subsidiary of General Motors. Dubbed Holden's "billion dollar baby", the car was available as the Holden Berlina—the mid-range model—and the Holden Calais, the luxury variant; utility body styles were marketed as the Holden Ute.

Succeeding the VZ series, the VE was the first iteration of the fourth generation of the Holden Commodore, a series of automobiles built between 1978 and 2020. Unlike its predecessors, which used Opel-sourced platforms adapted to mechanics and sizes that would suit the local market, the VE was the first Commodore entirely designed and developed by Holden in Australia. To minimise export redevelopment costs, features, such as a symmetrical centre console housing a flush-fitting hand brake lever, facilitated the conversion to left-hand drive. The VE was internationally badge-engineered as the Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Omega, Bitter Vero Sport and Pontiac G8. (Full article...)

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The service station in 2010

The Huning Highlands Conoco Service Station is a historic gas station in the Huning Highlands neighborhood of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was built in 1937 by the Continental Oil Company (Conoco) and is notable as a well-preserved example of the automobile-oriented development that shaped the city during the mid-20th century. The building was listed on the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties and the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

The service station is built in the form of a cottage, a popular design at the time, with a steeply pitched compound gable roof and a chimney. The walls are white glazed brick with green trim. The building has a side-gabled office section on the west side adjoining two front-gabled garage bays with wooden roll-up doors. The easternmost garage bay was an addition built onto the original station around 1939. The property also includes concrete gas pump islands, a c. 1960s light pole and a steel sign post, though the pumps, tanks, and signage have been removed. The station was operated by Conoco until 1961, then by Horn Oil Company until around 1983. In 1992, the vacant station was leased by the Albuquerque Conservation Association (TACA), which uses the building as headquarters for its preservation workshops and other activities. (Full article...)

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Fiat 500

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Mondial de l'Automobile de Paris, 2012

Louis Schweitzer (born 8 July 1942) is a Swiss businessman who is a former 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 as a Director on 11 March 2004. He is 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 February 21

1948 — The National Association for Stock Car Racing (NASCAR) is officially incorporated.

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.

Selected quote of the day

A car for every purse and purpose (AMG)

—Alfred P. Sloan, describing the hierarchy of General Motors brands'

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General images

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

Image 1A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 2The Vélib' in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 3The original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car, built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept (from Car)
Image 4The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 5Stuttgart, 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 61926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 7Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 8The second Marcus car of 1888 (from History of the automobile)
Image 9A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 10In 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 111974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 12A 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 13Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 14Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 15Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 16A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil' (from History of the automobile)
Image 171958 Lancia Appia (from History of the automobile)
Image 182011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 19The Toyota Corolla is the world's bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 201924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 21Gurgel Supermini (from History of the automobile)
Image 221959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 23A Tesla Model Y electric car, the world's best-selling car in the first and second quarters of 2023. (from History of the automobile)
Image 24The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 251885-built Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use (from History of the automobile)
Image 26The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 27Trucks' share of US vehicles produced, has tripled since 1975. Though vehicle fuel efficiency has increased within each category, the overall trend toward less efficient types of vehicles has offset some of the benefits of greater fuel economy and reductions in pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. Without the shift towards SUVs, energy use per unit distance could have fallen 30% more than it did from 2010 to 2022. (from Car)
Image 28Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 29The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 30Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 31The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 32Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 33Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 34Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 35Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 36The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 371946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 38Cugnot's 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 391929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 40Bertha Benz, the first long distance driver (from Car)
Image 41Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang'an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 42The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 43A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 44The 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 45Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 461954 Plymouth Savoy Station Wagon, one of the first US all-metal station wagons (from History of the automobile)
Image 471929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 48Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 49Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 50Result of a serious car collision (from Car)