I have seen this quote attributed to Oscar Wilde in many places. "You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear." I don't think he said this because of the fancy car bit.   Did he mean something else when he said car?

By the late 1890's there were quite a few early automobiles in and around the larger cities like Paris. Because Wilde was observant to the vanities of the upper classes, -- and only they could afford such novelties -- he probably did write it during that time...

The Online Etymology Dictionary states that "car" has been used in its modern sense as far back as 1896: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=car&allowed_in_frame=0 Wilde appears to have used a different word for it, however: "The automobile was delightful, but, of course, it broke down - they, like all machines, are more wilful than animals - nervous, irritable, strange things: I am going to write an article on 'nerves in the  inorganic world.' " - Oscar Wilde, letter to Robbie Ross, Paris (May-June 1900) [Wilde died 30 November 1900.] http://www.mocavo.com/A-Collection-of-Original-Manuscripts-Letters-Books-of-Oscar-Wilde-Including-His-Letters-Written-to-Robert-Ross-From-Reading-Gaol-and-Unpublished-Letters-Poems-Amp-Plays-Formerly-in-the-Possession-of-Robert-Ross-C-S-Millard-Stuart-Mason-and-the-Younger-Son-of-Oscar-Wilde/222379/87 As for who actually said or wrote the quotation, a possible source is discussed here: http://msinformationblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/quotations-by-oscar-wilde.html

They were called "motors" then.  Wilde may have said something approximating the same sentiment, but I am sure he never uttered or wrote the phrase "fancy car".

"Car" in this quote more likely refers to their boxcar since a primary method of travel was by train. Wealthy folk had fancy customized boxcars, or "cars".   Car first came into Middle English as carre, from French and earlier from Latin carrus 'wheeled vehicle', and it first meant a carriage, chariot, cart, wagon, truck, or other conveyance. From the 16th to 19th centuries, the word was mainly used in poetry to describe any vehicle used in a solemn or dignified procession, as those concerned with pageantry, in times of triumph, or in war. The word was mainly used in relation to vehicles traveling on railways until it was transferred to automobiles around 1896. Other words related to car include career, cargo, caricature, carry, charge, and chariot.