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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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“Cog” is a British television and cinema advertisement launched by Honda in 2003 to promote the seventh-generation Accord line of cars. It follows the convention of a Rube Goldberg machine, utilizing a chain of colliding parts taken from a disassembled Accord. Wieden+Kennedy developed a £6 million marketing campaign around “Cog” and its partner pieces, “Sense” and “Everyday”, broadcast later in the year. The piece itself was produced on a budget of £1 million by Partizan Midi-Minuit. Antoine Bardou-Jacquet directed the seven-month production, contracting The Mill to handle post-production. The 120-second final cut of “Cog” was broadcast on British television on 6 April 2003, during a commercial break in ITV‘s coverage of the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix.

The campaign was very successful both critically and financially. Honda’s UK domain saw more web traffic in the 24 hours after the ad’s television debut than all but one UK automotive brand received during that entire month. The branded content attached to “Cog” through interactive television was accessed by more than 250,000 people, and 10,000 people followed up with a request for a brochure for the Honda Accord or a DVD copy of the advertisement. (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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Trabant 601

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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 June 11

1926 — The first Ford Tri-Motor takes off from Dearborn, Michigan

1955 — 82 are killed in a disastrous crash at Le Mans

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

Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports … all others are games.

—Ernest Hemingway

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General images

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

Image 1Fiat 4 HP, the first car model produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat in 1899 (from History of the automobile)
Image 2Result of a serious car collision (from Car)
Image 3The 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 4The Selden Road-Engine (from History of the automobile)
Image 51924 Doble Model E (from History of the automobile)
Image 6The Präsident automobile (from History of the automobile)
Image 7Rolls-Royce Phantom III (from History of the automobile)
Image 8A Chevrolet Suburban extended-length SUV weighs 3,300 kilograms (7,200 lb) (gross weight). (from Car)
Image 91946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda, one of the first mass-produced cars with a pontoon design (from History of the automobile)
Image 101955 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible (from History of the automobile)
Image 11In 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 12Model-T Ford car parked near the Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in Australia in 1915 (from History of the automobile)
Image 13A robotic Volkswagen Passat shown at Stanford University is a driverless car. (from Car)
Image 14Stuttgart, 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 15A 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 161929 Alfa Romeo 6C (from History of the automobile)
Image 171926 Bugatti Type 35 (from History of the automobile)
Image 18The Vélib’ in Paris, France, is the largest bikesharing system outside China. (from Car)
Image 19Audi A4 daytime running lights (from Car)
Image 20Volkswagen Beetle (from History of the automobile)
Image 21The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all-time. (from Car)
Image 22Panel for fuses and circuit breakers (from Car)
Image 231929 Austin Seven (from History of the automobile)
Image 24The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen Beetle (background) are among the most mass-produced car models in history. (from History of the automobile)
Image 25A car being assembled in a factory (from Car)
Image 261974 Citroën DS (from History of the automobile)
Image 27The second Marcus car of 1888 (from History of the automobile)
Image 28Cugnot’s steam wagon, the second (1771) version (from History of the automobile)
Image 29Carl Benz, creator of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, considered by many as the first modern car. (from History of the automobile)
Image 30The German Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888, perhaps the first electric car in the world (from History of the automobile)
Image 31Cugnot’s 1771 fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris (from Car)
Image 32Car exhaust gas is one type of pollution
Image 33A replica of Richard Trevithick’s 1801 road locomotive ‘Puffing Devil’ (from History of the automobile)
Image 34Ransom E. Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company (Oldsmobile) in 1897. (from Car)
Image 35The first practical car, Carl Benz’s Patent-Motorwagen Nr. 2 of 1886 (image from 1888) (from Car)
Image 36Carl Benz, the inventor of the modern car (from Car)
Image 37Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A (from History of the automobile)
Image 381987 Renault Espace (from History of the automobile)
Image 39The 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 40The Toyota Corolla is the world’s bestselling nameplate. (from History of the automobile)
Image 411959 Morris Mini-Minor (from History of the automobile)
Image 42The Flocken Elektrowagen was the first four-wheeled electric car (from Car)
Image 43Road congestion is an issue in many major cities (pictured is Chang’an Avenue in Beijing). (from Car)
Image 441982 Toyota Camry (from History of the automobile)
Image 452011 Nissan Leaf electric car (from Car)
Image 46Steam machine of Verbiest, in 1678 (Ferdinand Verbiest) (from Car)
Image 47Ford Motor Company automobile assembly line in the 1920s (from Car)
Image 48The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898 (from History of the automobile)
Image 49A Tesla Model Y electric car, the world’s best-selling electric car, and the best selling nameplate in 2023. (from History of the automobile)