Automobile
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99 free Automobile trivia questions with answers — technology quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
13 free Automobile trivia questions with answers. Automobile trivia lives in two places on BrainPickle. This page is the shorter set; the main quiz is Cars & Automotive trivia, with our deepest question pool on the topic and a source behind every answer.
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Q 01Which German engineer is widely credited with patenting the first gasoline-powered automobile in 1886?
Karl Benz
Karl Benz filed for German patent DRP 37435, a 'vehicle powered by a gas engine', on 29 January 1886; that patent is widely called the birth certificate of the automobile.
Q 02Which automotive pioneer made cars affordable by implementing the moving assembly line?
Henry Ford
Henry Ford's moving assembly line began at the Highland Park plant on 7 October 1913, cutting the time to build a Model T chassis from over 12 hours to about 93 minutes.
Q 03What ignites the air-fuel mixture in a gasoline engine but is missing from a diesel?
Spark plug
Spark plugs deliver an electric current from the ignition system to the combustion chamber, creating a spark that ignites the compressed fuel/air mixture.
Q 04What does the acronym ABS stand for in the context of automotive safety systems?
Anti-lock Braking System
An Anti-lock Braking System stops the wheels locking under hard braking so the driver keeps steering control; it is fitted to cars, motorcycles, trucks and aircraft.
Q 05What exhaust-system device converts toxic pollutants into less harmful substances?
Catalytic converter
A catalytic converter uses platinum, palladium and rhodium catalysts to turn carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides into carbon dioxide, water and nitrogen.
Q 06Which luxury car brand put a chrome leaping cat on its radiator cap?
Jaguar
Jaguar's chrome 'Leaper' mascot, a leaping cat designed by artist F. Gordon Crosby, crowned the radiator cap and bonnet from the late 1930s until European pedestrian-safety rules ended its use.
Q 07Which car body style has a three-box layout with separate engine, passenger and cargo compartments?
Sedan
A sedan is a saloon in British English: a closed body, usually four doors, with separate boxes for the engine, the passengers and the luggage.
Q 08What type of internal combustion engine uses an eccentric rotary design with a triangular rotor instead of traditional reciprocating pistons?
Wankel engine
The Wankel engine, invented by Felix Wankel, is a unique type of internal combustion engine that utilizes a rotor, often triangular, spinning within an epitrochoidal housing, eliminating the need for pistons.
Q 09Which Swedish manufacturer made the modern three-point seat belt standard equipment in 1959?
Volvo
Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin patented the three-point belt in 1959, and Volvo fitted it as standard on the Amazon and PV544 that year, then opened the patent to other carmakers.
Q 10Which German engineer, born in 1858, gave his name to the compression-ignition engine?
Rudolf Diesel
Rudolf Diesel invented the compression-ignition engine that burns the fuel named after him; at fourteen he had written to his parents announcing he meant to become an engineer.
Q 11Which component lets a car's driven wheels on one axle turn at different speeds when cornering?
The differential
The differential splits engine torque between the two driven wheels while letting them rotate at different speeds; the outer wheel covers a longer arc in every corner.
Q 12What distinguishes a turbocharger from a supercharger?
It is driven by the kinetic energy of exhaust gases
A supercharger is the one turned mechanically, usually by a belt from the crankshaft. Both are forced induction devices that push more air into the engine.
Q 13Which engineer led the design team behind the Volkswagen Type 1 in the 1930s?
Q 21By 1918, roughly what fraction of all cars in the United States were Model Ts?
Half
About half: by 1918 one car in two on American roads was a Model T, and the 15 millionth rolled off the Highland Park line on 26 May 1927.
Q 22The word 'automobile' combines Latin 'mobilis' with 'autós', meaning 'self', from which language?
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek: autós means 'self' and Latin mobilis 'movable', making an automobile literally a self-moving vehicle; the same Greek root gives 'autograph' and 'autonomy'.
Q 23Which Swiss inventor built the first internal-combustion-powered vehicle around 1807–08?
François Isaac de Rivaz
Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche's design office took the commission in 1934 and built the first Beetle prototypes by 1936; the rear-mounted, air-cooled flat-four became the car's signature.
Q 14Which French inventor built the first steam-powered vehicle capable of carrying people, in 1769?
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot's fardier à vapeur of 1769 was a three-wheeled steam tractor built to haul artillery for the French army; it proved too slow and unwieldy to develop further.
Q 15Ferdinand Verbiest built the 1672 miniature steam 'auto-mobile' as a toy for whom?
The Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor: Ferdinand Verbiest, a Flemish Jesuit at the Qing court in Beijing, described the 65-centimetre steam-turbine cart in his 1687 book Astronomia Europaea.
Q 16Which 1901 vehicle is generally regarded as the first mass-produced automobile?
Oldsmobile Curved Dash
The Oldsmobile Curved Dash came off Ransom Olds's assembly line with interchangeable parts, thousands of them by 1903.
Q 17What was the Ford Model T's popular nickname?
The Tin Lizzie
Americans nicknamed the Model T the Tin Lizzie; over 15 million were sold between 1908 and 1927.
Q 18Despite Ford's famous line, what colours was the Model T actually sold in from 1908 to 1913?
Grey, green, blue and red
Early Model Ts came in grey, green, blue and red; black-only production ran from 1914 to 1925, when the fast-drying black enamel suited the moving assembly line.
Q 19The Model T's price fell from $780 in 1910 to roughly what by 1924?
$290
About $290 for a 1924 touring car; moving assembly lines from 1913 let Ford cut the price year after year, down to $260 for the 1925 runabout.
Q 20How much power did the Ford Model T's 2.9-litre four-cylinder engine produce?
20 hp
About 20 hp from the 177-cubic-inch (2.9-litre) side-valve four, good for roughly 45 mph; its two-speed planetary gearbox was worked by foot pedals.
François Isaac de Rivaz patented a hydrogen-fuelled internal-combustion engine in 1807 and fitted it to a crude carriage in 1808, while the Niépce brothers put their Pyréolophore in a boat.
Q 24How many Volkswagen Beetles were produced between 1938 and 2003?
21.5 million
It was the first car to pass 20 million units and overtook the Model T's record in 1972.
Q 25In which year was the Volkswagen Type 1 officially given the name 'Beetle'?
1968
1968: Volkswagen's English-language advertising first used 'Beetle' officially that year; before then the car was sold simply as the Volkswagen, or by engine size as the 1200 or 1300.
Q 26According to Hitler, why did the Volkswagen 'people's car' need an air-cooled engine?
Not every country doctor had a garage
Hitler's specification noted that not every country doctor had a garage, so the car had to sit outdoors in winter; an air-cooled engine had no radiator to freeze.
Q 27Which was the first American carmaker to offer seat belts as a factory option, in its 1949 models?
Nash
Nash fitted lap belts as an option on its 1949 Airflyte models, but buyers disliked them so much that many had dealers remove them; Ford followed with optional belts in 1955.
Q 28Which Japanese carmaker's name is the Japanese word for the Pleiades star cluster?
Subaru
Subaru is Japanese for the Pleiades; its six-star badge stands for the five companies that merged in 1953 to form Fuji Heavy Industries, plus the parent.
Q 29The world's first compulsory seat belt law was passed in 1970 in which place?
Victoria, Australia
Victoria, Australia made belt-wearing compulsory for drivers and front-seat passengers from 22 December 1970, the first such law anywhere; the other Australian states followed within two years.
Q 30Which was the first U.S. production car to include a passenger airbag, in 1973?
Oldsmobile Toronado
The 1973 Oldsmobile Toronado was the first car sold to the public with a passenger-side airbag, under GM's 'Air Cushion Restraint System' option.