Reusing existing content types for very similar content
Nodes are a generic entity, with each bundle (content type) being it's own type (ie - a means of transport). This is too generalized. As such, I would say that this is a case for a custom entity, rather than nodes. Your custom entity would be means of transport. You would then create base fields on the entity type for the fields common to each means of transport. You would then create bundles (which for nodes, are known as 'content types') for each separate means of transport (car, plane, bicycle etc) and add means-specific fields to the bundle.