Car

Motor Car, any self-propelled vehicle with more than two wheels and a passenger compartment, capable of being steered by the operator for use on roads. The term is used more specifically to denote any such vehicle designed to carry a maximum of seven people.

The primary components of a car are the power plant, the power transmission, the running gear, and the control system. These constitute the chassis, on which the body is mounted. The power plant includes the engine and its fuel, the carburettor, ignition, lubrication, and cooling systems, and the starter motor.

Potentially, the motor car provided universal mobility for the population of the industrialized world. At first, only the wealthy could afford cars although the arrival of the Model T Ford. Mass-produced from 1913, its price fell and the beloved Tin Lizzie inspired a host of imitators across the globe. Nevertheless, during the inter-war years motoring remained a pursuit of the affluent.

The increasing prosperity that followed World War II brought growing numbers of cars to the worlds roads that currently accommodate over 500 million motor vehicles. Britain accounts for 24 million of them. Traffic-related air pollution, traffic congestion and traffic control, and road safety are major issues in developed and other countries.

In Europe Mini-inspired cars became increasingly popular and the Mini itself became a classic. However, the global influence of the Issigonis approach attained its height following the oil price rises in the early 1970s. This resulted in a trend in designing and producing smaller front-wheel drive cars with hatchback bodies, so called because they incorporated a single opening tailgate. (It also marked a decline in production of the vast American gas-guzzlers, which had been so popular in the 1950s.) These cars currently dominate the world market.

The soaring price of petrol also revived research, dormant on passenger cars since the 1930s, into more aerodynamically efficient bodywork. This meant that a cars styling was contoured to assist its passage through the air in order to minimize petrol consumption. This had hitherto been the preserve of sports-car makers.

In recent years environmental considerations and growing concern over traffic pollution have had a profound effect on car design. The United States introduced the first regulations on noxious car emissions in 1967; the California Clean Air Act requires that, by 2003, 10 per cent of all new cars sold in that state must have zero exhaust emissions.

However, as these restrictions become more rigorous, their effects on the power and efficiency of car engines grow more adverse. Noxious emissions include carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and particulates. In 1986 the Japanese Toyota company introduced the more efficient multivalve twin overhead camshaft engine, a unit more usually associated with high-performance models. This concept has now been widely adopted ...