The vehicles are typically outfitted with weapons (such as missiles and machine guns), souped-up components (like heavy-duty fire-proof wheels, and nitro injectors), and defensive elements (armor plating and radar tracking systems).

Common scenarios include a harrowing gauntlet and competition in an arena to win a virtual cash prize with which to upgrade their cars.

While the core of the original Car Wars was a boardgame, the supplements allowed it to be extended into a larger game with light role-playing elements.

Car Wars was first published in a small ziplock-bag format in 1980,[2] and cited Alan Dean Foster's short story, "Why Johnny Can't Speed", as a primary inspiration.

[10] Steve Jackson continues to express an interest in developing video games based on the Car Wars concept.

The last official Cars Wars material for the original game appeared in Pyramid magazine (an article introducing High Torque Motors, by Robert Deis).

A series of expansions for both the GURPS version and boardgame, The AADA Road Atlas and Survival Guide, were published in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

[13] In October 2009, Steve Jackson Games made the Car Wars Compendium: Second Edition (Fifth Printing) available as a PDF from the e23 online store.

This eventually led to a second American civil war, ending with the secession of the "Free Oil States", Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

After these wars, there are years of worldwide economic crisis, and related global unrest, during which "death sports" become a popular form of entertainment.

There are still several local clubs that claim to be AADA affiliated,[2] and there are even web sites where interested parties can enjoy PBEM games.

The official Car Wars site notes plans to relaunch the AADA and start a new periodical called Autoduel Times.

Uncle Albert's Auto Stop & Gunnery Shop 2035 Catalog was the first of six Car Wars expansions published by Steve Jackson Games between 1985 and 1992.

[19] Craig Sheeley reviewed Uncle Albert's Auto Stop & Gunnery Shop 2035 Catalog in The Space Gamer No.

There were also a series of six gamebooks based in the Car Wars universe, where a player could make choices for the protagonist to affect the outcome of the story.

The Car Wars Adventure Gamebooks were titled: Battle Road, Fuel's Gold, Dueltrack, Badlands Run, Green Circle Blues, and Mean Streets.

A trilogy of novels was published by Tor Books: The Square Deal by David Drake in 1992, Double Jeopardy: Car Warriors 2 by Aaron Alston in 1994, and Back from Hell by Mick Farren in 1999.

In 1995 VictorMaxx technologies announced plans for a series of gaming centers based on Car Wars, with a prototype site to debut in Chicago in 1996.

"[22] The Chicago Tribune described the game as "vicious combat takes place on the highways and waters of a future that is not a kinder, gentler America".