Topic summary
Wheel well
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Fender (vehicle).
Trucks and automobiles
The fender's openings for the wheel wells tend to be much larger than the tire's diameter because they accommodate suspension travel and must be large enough to allow the full range of tire motion on the suspension without touching the interior of the wheel well. The streamlined 1949 Nash 600 and Ambassador design were the first to feature fenders that enclosed the front wheels. More elaborate designs include fender skirts for enclosing the outside edge of the wheel well, and stylized pontoon fenders for exposed fenders.