Production vehicles or production cars are
mass-produced
Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...
identical models, offered for sale to the public, and able to be legally driven on public roads (
street legal). Legislation and other rules further define the production vehicle within particular countries or uses. There is no single fixed global definition of the term.
Origin
In 1896 the term ''production car'' was used to describe a railway carriage that carried the scenery for an opera company. The earliest use of the term ''production car'' being applied to motor cars, found to date, was in a June 1914 American advertisement for a
Regal motor car. The phrase was a shortened form of ''mass-produced'' or ''quantity-produced'' car. The phrase was also used in terms of the car to be made in production, as opposed to the prototype.
![1911 Ford Model T Touring 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/1911_Ford_Model_T_Touring_2.jpg)
At that time production cars referred to cheaper vehicles such as Model T's that were made in relatively large numbers on production lines, as opposed to the more expensive coach built models. Now the term has broadened to include vehicles that are hand assembled, or assembled on a
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
or
assembly line
An assembly line is a manufacturing process (often called a ''progressive assembly'') in which parts (usually interchangeable parts) are added as the semi-finished assembly moves from workstation to workstation where the parts are added in seq ...
. The main criteria being that there are a number of the same model with the same specifications.
There is no fixed definition of the number of vehicles or the amount of modification allowed outside of motorsports or national regulations or laws that determine what is or is not a production vehicle. For example, Guinness recognises a modified 2-seat
Jaguar XK120
The Jaguar XK120 is a sports car manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. It was Jaguar's first sports car since SS 100 production ended in 1939.
The XK120 is a highly desirable model. In 2016, Bonhams sold a matching numbers left-hand-d ...
as the world's fastest production car in 1949.
Definitions
Guinness Book of Records
In 2010 the ''
Guinness Book of Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' awarded the record for the ‘Fastest production car’ to the
Bugatti Veyron Super Sport
The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engine sports car, designed and developed in Germany by the Volkswagen Group and Bugatti and manufactured in Molsheim, France, by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti. It was named after the racing driver P ...
. In 2013 their decision was appealed on the ground that the Bugatti was a modified version - the limiter was turned off, a fact already known in 2010. Guinness (which had listed speeds by British cars with modified limiters as production car records in the 1990s) upheld the appeal and initiated a review of their production car definition, the outcome was that turning off the limiter was not a fundamental modification and the Bugatti record was reinstated. Guinness were also reported in some sources as saying that at least 50 identical vehicles were needed to be made to constitute a production car but several models which were built less than 15 times got certified for production car records. In February 2014, ''
Road & Track
''Road & Track'' (stylized as ''R&T'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. It is owned by Hearst Magazines and is published 6 times per year. The editorial offices are located in New York, New York.
History
''Road & Track'' (often ab ...
'' wrote that Guinness required 30 identical vehicles.
Motorsports
FIA definitions
There have been numerous disputes over what constituted production and modified cars when used in
motorsports
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
. Even under
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
(FIA), the exact definition of what was (or was not) a production car was unclear and controversial, which led to rules written in 1955.
Although the term is defined for particular types of vehicles, and that a certain number of a model must be produced in order to qualify as "production", it is another matter to enforce the rules.
For example, the 1968 FIA rules state that "production" for
sports car
A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...
s need to have at least 25 identical cars produced within a 12-month period and they were meant for normal sale to individual purchasers. However, FIA rules tend to allow a degree of modification from the original.
Utah Salt Flats Racing Association
Another example is the
Utah Salt Flats Racing Association which is concerned solely with the speed of a vehicle. The Association uses its own definition of a production vehicle. The Association allows quite a high level of modification over the original. In 2006 a
Pontiac TransAm
The Pontiac Firebird is an American automobile that was built and produced by Pontiac from the 1967 to 2002 model years. Designed as a pony car to compete with the Ford Mustang, it was introduced on February 23, 1967, five months after GM's C ...
of John Rains Racing was classified as being the fastest production model (Bonneville D/PS class) with a top speed in excess of 297 mph. Road tests of the same type of
car available from the production line were incapable of anything like this speed and ''
Popular Mechanics
''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...
'' referred to the car as ''production based'', which was probably a more accurate description.
Stock car
A
stock car
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...
, in the original sense of the term, is an automobile that has not been modified from its original factory configuration. Later the term stock car came to mean any production-based automobile used in racing. This term is used to differentiate such a car from a "race car", a special, custom-built car designed only for racing purposes.
The actual degree to which the cars conform to standard model specs has changed over the years and varies from country to country. Today most American stock cars may superficially resemble standard American family
sedans
A sedan or saloon (British English) is a passenger car in a three-box configuration with separate compartments for an engine, passengers, and cargo.
The first recorded use of the word "sedan" in reference to an automobile body occurred in 19 ...
, but are in fact purpose-built racing machines built to a strict set of regulations governing the car design ensuring that the
chassis
A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
,
suspension
Suspension or suspended may refer to:
Science and engineering
* Suspension (topology), in mathematics
* Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics
* Suspension of a ring, in mathematics
* Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspend ...
, engine, etc. are architecturally identical on all vehicles. For example, the NASCAR Sprint Cup series now requires
fuel injection
Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines.
All comp ...
. The closest European equivalent to stock car racing is probably
touring car racing
Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States.
While the cars do not move ...
. In the UK and New Zealand there is a racing formula called stock cars but the cars are markedly different from any road car one might see. In Australia there was a formula that was similar to NASCAR called
AUSCAR, but it has been ended, and a form of touring cars has taken its place (this is known locally as "V8 supercars", featuring the
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most recen ...
and
Clipsal 500
The Adelaide 500 (also known as the VALO Adelaide 500 for sponsorship reasons) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars held on the streets of the east end of Adelaide, South Australia between 1999 to 2020 and again from 2022. It is sometim ...
).
Land speed records
![Caca bueno bonneville 20100825](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Caca_bueno_bonneville_20100825.jpg)
The FIA Land Speed Records Commission has regulations governing series-production cars attempting land speed records under its ''2014 Appendix D - Regulations for Land Speed Record Attempts''. Series-production cars fall under rule D2.3.2 and state that they must be:
Category B: Series-production Automobiles in production at the time of the application for the Record Attempt and either homologated by the FIA, or for which an application for homologation has been made to the FIA or recognised by the ASN of the country in which they are manufactured for National Records.
The high level of modification allowed under these FIA's rules would tend to indicate that the cars are production based, rather than straight from an assembly line. For example, Category B Group III had a
Dodge Dakota
The Dodge Dakota, known as the Ram Dakota for the final two years of production, is a mid-size pickup truck from Chrysler's Ram (formerly Dodge Truck) division. The first Dakota was introduced in late 1986 as a 1987 model. From its introduction th ...
with a top speed of 217.395 mph.
Forums citing the Dakota's top speed indicate a standard production Dakota R/T would only reach about 125 mph.
Production cars under the
Southern California Timing Association
Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) is a competition sanctioning body that maintains rules and record for Land Speed Racing events held at El Mirage Dry Lake, California and at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. It is a non-profit, volunte ...
(SCTA) rules refers purely to the body class. Beyond that the cars are extensively modified.
Legislation
Various countries have laws that define production vehicles. For example, in the United States
Briggs Cunningham
Briggs Swift Cunningham II (January 19, 1907 – July 2, 2003) was an American entrepreneur and sportsman. He is best known for skippering the yacht ''Columbia'' to victory in the 1958 America's Cup race, and for his efforts as a driver, team o ...
's business was classified as a hobby by tax officials because he did not manufacture enough of each model for the Cunningham automobile to be considered a production vehicle, but rather the
IRS
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...
classified them as high-performance prototype automobiles built as
racecars
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
. Legislative definitions tend to revolve around issues of safety or revenue (taxation).
Modified cars
Not all performance specialists are officially recognised and their cars are not usually referred to as production vehicles. The primary means of identifying a cars manufacturer since the mid 1980s has been the
vehicle identification or VIN. The first three digits are the
manufacturer or WMI identifier.
If the performance specialist is the manufacturer then its WMI identifier will be in the VIN. An example would be vehicles made or modified by tuning and manufacturing company
RUF, which specialises in
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
based vehicles. In general, if the RUF vehicle is a RUF modified Porsche then the WMI will be Porsche's (WP0), but if it is built by RUF then its WMI will be RUF's (W09).
Limited production cars
These are usually vehicles where the production run is restricted to a specific number of vehicles. An example of this is the 1957
Rambler Rebel
The Rambler Rebel is an automobile that was produced by the American Motors Corporation (AMC) of Kenosha, Wisconsin for the 1957–1960 model years, as well as again for 1966 and 1967.
Introduced as a stand-alone model in one body style, the 19 ...
, a limited-production car where only 1,500 were produced.
Statistics
Motor vehicle production statistics are available for countries worldwide, by country, make, and model. Production statistics by country and by model, as far as announced, are available for each make as well.
From concept car to production model
Pre-production cars come after
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
s or
development mule
A development mule (test mule, or simply mule) in the automotive industry is a testbed vehicle equipped with prototype components requiring evaluation. They are often camouflaged to cover their designs.
Application
Mules are necessary because a ...
s, which themselves may be preceded by
concept car
A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...
s. Pre-production vehicles are followed by production vehicles in the
mass production
Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...
for distribution through
car dealership
A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...
s. For example the
Bugatti Chiron
The Bugatti Chiron is a mid-engine two-seater sports car designed and developed in Germany by Bugatti Engineering GmbH and manufactured in Molsheim, France, by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. The successor to the Bug ...
in which
Andy Wallace achieved a maximum of on 2 August 2019 was described by Bugatti a "near production ready prototype".
See also
*
Aftermarket (automotive)
The automotive aftermarket is the secondary market of the automotive industry, concerned with the manufacturing, remanufacturing, distribution, retailing, and installation of all vehicle parts, chemicals, equipment, and accessories, ''after'' the ...
*
Car classification
Governments and private organizations have developed car classification schemes that are used for various purposes including regulation, description, and categorization of cars.
The International Standard ISO 3833-1977 ''Road vehicles – Types ...
*
Concept car
A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...
*
Development mule
A development mule (test mule, or simply mule) in the automotive industry is a testbed vehicle equipped with prototype components requiring evaluation. They are often camouflaged to cover their designs.
Application
Mules are necessary because a ...
*
Euro NCAP
The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven (Belgium) formed in 1996, with the first results released in February ...
*
Mass production
Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...
*
Pre-production car
Pre-production cars are vehicles that allow the automaker to find problems before a new model goes on sale to the public. Pre-production cars come after prototypes, or development mules which themselves are preceded by concept cars. Pre-producti ...
*
Production car racing
Production car racing, Showroom Stock racing, Street Stock, Pure Stock, Touring and U-car racing are all categories of auto racing where unmodified (or very lightly modified) production cars race each other, outright and also in classes.
Cars u ...
*
Production World Rally Championship
The FIA Production World Rally Championship, or PWRC, was a companion rally series to the World Rally Championship, contested by Group N rally cars.
History
The series started in 1987 as ''FIA Cup for Production Rally Drivers'' and obtained the ...
*
Product lifecycle management
In industry, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its inception through the engineering, design and manufacture, as well as the service and disposal of manufactured products. PL ...
*
Vehicle category
A vehicle category classifies a land vehicle or trailer for regulatory purposes.
UNECE categories
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Information from Consolidated Resolution on the Construction of Vehicles (R.E.3), Revision 6.
Some ...
*
Vehicle regulation
Vehicle regulations are requirements that automobiles must satisfy in order to be approved for sale or use in a particular country or region. They are usually mandated by legislation, and administered by a government body. The regulations concern a ...
*
World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations
The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations is a working party (WP.29) of the Inland Transport Committee (ITC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Its responsibility is to manage the multilateral Agreements ...
Wikipedia
Three lists within Wikipedia and the discussions on their talk pages illustrate the difficulty in defining what a production car is. These are:
*
List of automotive superlatives
Automotive superlatives include attributes such as the ''smallest'', ''largest'', ''fastest'', ''lightest'', ''best-selling'', and so on.
This list (except for the firsts section) is limited to automobiles built after World War II, and lists sup ...
*
List of fastest production cars by acceleration
This list is limited to unmodified production cars which meet the eligibility criteria below. All entries must be able to be verified from reliable sources. Up to one percent decline from start to finish is allowed. Times driven privately or by ma ...
*
Production car speed record
This is a list of the world's record-breaking top speeds achieved by street-legal production cars (as opposed to concept cars or modified cars). For the purposes of this list eligible cars are defined in the list's rules. This list uses a diff ...
In the first two lists a ''production car'' is described as:
* constructed principally for retail sale to consumers, for their personal use, and to transport people on public roads (no commercial or industrial vehicles are eligible);
* had 25 or more instances made by the original vehicle manufacturer, and offered for commercial sale to the public in new condition (kit cars and cars modified by either professional tuners or individuals are not eligible); and
* street-legal in their intended markets, and capable of passing any official tests or inspections required to be granted this status.
The third list used the same description until April 2018. It was changed to the following after a vote based on suggestions by a
Koenigsegg
Koenigsegg Automotive AB () is a Swedish manufacturer of high-performance sports cars based in Ängelholm, Skåne County, Sweden.
Company
The company was founded in 1994 in Sweden by Christian von Koenigsegg, with the intention of producing ...
employee :
* constructed principally for retail sale to consumers, for their personal use, to transport people on public roads (no commercial or industrial vehicles are eligible)
* available for commercial sale to the public in the same specification as the vehicle used to achieve the record
* manufactured in the record-claiming specification by a manufacturer whose WMI number is shown on the VIN, including vehicles that are modified by either professional tuners or others that result in a VIN with a WMI number in their name (for example, if a Porsche-based car is remanufactured by RUF and has RUF's WMI W09, it is eligible; but if it has Porsche's WMI, WP0, it is not eligible)
* pre-1981 vehicles must be made by the original vehicle manufacturer and not modified by either professional tuners or individuals
* street-legal in its intended markets, having fulfilled the homologation tests or inspections required under either a) United States of America, b) European Union law, or (c) Japan to be granted this status
* sold in more than one national market.
The talk pages for all these lists continue to have ongoing discussions about the definitions.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Production Vehicle
Automotive industry
Car models