Definition of "motor-car" []

• A car which carries its own propelling mechanism, as an electric motor, pneumatic engine, steam-engine, etc., and is therefore a locomotive. Many such cars have sufficient power to draw other cars attached to them. (noun)
• A mechanically propelled vehicle or automobile. The term is used to include all classes of automobiles, from the racing-machine, in which speed is the prime requisite, to the commercial vehicle, in which speed is of no moment, but carrying capacity for loads is desired. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "If Bernie Ecclestone can make it more cost-effective for the likes of the Virgin brand to come into the sport, and if he can champion clean motor-car racing - which is possible to do by making sure all the cars run on clean fuels - then at some stage we might be interested in getting involved ..."
• "You are now on the second speed, which you will no doubt observe is considerably faster than the lower speed … Remember that with a motor-car the driver controls the vehicle, and in this it differs from a horse-drawn vehicle, in which the driver is often at the mercy of the animal, to be pulled here, backed there, or upset altogether, should this chance to please the noble quadruped."
• "Matters were not helped by the multitude of motor-car handbooks that exploded from publishers, who assumed one could be taught to drive from a book!"