Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
A kit car is an automobile available as a set of parts that a manufacturer sells and the buyer then assembles into a functioning car. Usually, many of the major mechanical systems such as the engine and transmission are sourced from donor vehicles or purchased new from other vendors. Kits vary in completeness, consisting of as little as a book of plans, or as much as a complete set with all components to assemble into a fully operational vehicle such as those from Caterham.
This is a list of British words not widely used in the United States. In Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, India, South Africa, and Australia, some of the British terms listed are used, although another usage is often preferred.
There is no fixed definition of a classic car. They are usually older cars, typically 25 years or older, though definitions vary. A common theme is of an older car of historical interest to be collectible and tend to be restored rather than scrapped, though sometimes age is not a factor. Classic cars are often considered a subset of a broader category of "collector cars". A subset of what is considered classic cars are known as antique cars or vintage cars.
Governments and private organizations have developed car classification schemes that are used for various purposes including regulation, description, and categorization of cars.
Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimized for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made to go much faster." However, there is no definition of the term that is universally accepted and the term is attached to a wide range of vehicles. Most often they are individually designed and constructed using components from many makes of old or new cars, and are most prevalent in the United States and Canada. Many are intended for exhibition rather than for racing or everyday driving.
There are many types of car body styles. They vary depending on intended use, market position, location, and the era they were made in.
A portable or mobile toilet is any type of toilet that can be moved around, some by one person, some by mechanical equipment such as a truck and crane. Most types do not require any pre-existing services or infrastructure, such as sewerage, but are completely self-contained. The portable toilet is used in a variety of situations, for example in urban slums of developing countries, at festivals, for camping, on boats, on construction sites, and at film locations and large outdoor gatherings where there are no other facilities. Most portable toilets are unisex single units with privacy ensured by a simple lock on the door. Some portable toilets are small molded plastic or fiberglass portable rooms with a lockable door and a receptacle to catch the human excreta in a container.
Banger racing is a tarmac, dirt, shale and chalk track type of motorsport event popular in countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Vehicles are raced against one another, with the winner being the first to the checkered flag after a set number of laps. Contact to damage an opponent's car is permitted and encouraged within the formula, with cars progressively becoming more damaged throughout an event. Races are held at an oval or tri-oval circuits that are up to 1⁄4 mile long; however, on certain occasions, races are held in a figure of eight configurations. Banger racing is often confused with stock car racing, although there are differences between the two, despite often racing at the same tracks.
Demolition derby is a type of motorsport, usually presented at county fairs and national events. While rules vary from event to event, the typical demolition derby event consists of five or more drivers competing by deliberately ramming their vehicles into one another. The last driver whose vehicle is still operational is awarded the victory. Demolition derbies originated in the United States and quickly spread to other Western nations. For example, Australia's first demolition derby took place in January 1963. In the UK and parts of Europe, demolition derbies are often held at the end of a full day of banger racing.
A rat rod, as usually known today, is a custom car with a deliberately worn-down, unfinished appearance, typically lacking paint, showing rust, and made from cheap or cast-off parts. These parts can include non-automotive items that have been repurposed, such as a rifle used as a gear shifter, wrenches as door handles, or hand saws as sun visors. Whether or not so appointed, the rat rod uniquely conveys its builder’s imagination.
A 2+2 is a car-body style that has a seat each for the driver and front passenger, and two rear seats. The latter may be individual "bucket" seats, fold-downs, or a full-width "bucketed" bench seat, but always with less leg room than either the front or a standard 2-door car. The style is different from 4 or 5 seat automobiles that have normal size rear seats, with second row 2+2 seating typically only suitable for children or occasional use.
A bucket seat is a car seat contoured to hold one person, distinct from a flat bench seat designed to fit multiple people. In its simplest form it contours somewhat to the human body, but may have a deep seat and exaggerated sides that partially enclose and support the body in high-performance automobiles.
In American English, a lemon is a vehicle that turns out to have several manufacturing issues affecting its safety, value or utility. Any vehicle with such severe issues may be termed a lemon, and by extension, so may any product with flaws too great or severe to serve its purpose.
Production vehicles or production cars are mass-produced models of automobiles offered for sale to the public, and able to be legally driven on public roads. Legislation and other industrial rules further define the production vehicle within particular countries or uses. There is no single fixed global definition of the term.
Vehicle recycling is the dismantling of vehicles for spare parts. At the end of their useful life, vehicles have value as a source of spare parts and this has created a vehicle dismantling industry. The industry has various names for its business outlets including wrecking yard, auto dismantling yard, car spare parts supplier, and recently, auto or vehicle recycling. Vehicle recycling has always occurred to some degree but in recent years manufacturers have become involved in the process. A car crusher is often used to reduce the size of scrapped vehicles for simplified transportation to a steel mill.
A scrappage program is a government incentive program to promote the replacement of old vehicles with modern vehicles. Scrappage programs generally have the dual aim of stimulating the automobile industry and removing inefficient, more polluting vehicles from the road. Many European countries introduced large-scale scrappage programs as an economic stimulus to increase market demand in the industrial sector during the global recession that began in 2008.
The Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), colloquially known as "cash for clunkers", was a $3 billion U.S. federal scrappage program intended to provide economic incentives to U.S. residents to purchase a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle when trading in a less fuel-efficient vehicle. The program was promoted as a post-recession stimulus program to boost auto sales while putting more fuel-efficient vehicles on the roadways.
"Leepu & Pitbull" is an American reality television series featuring mechanic and auto-garage shop owner, Steve "Pitbull" Trimboli and Bangladeshi car designer, Nizamuddin "Leepu" Awlia. Leepu transforms any type of vehicle into his own vision by taking hunks of scrap metal and creating a unique but affordable custom car for their clients out of Trimboli's Pit Bull Motors Inc. in Freeport, New York, on Long Island. The program premiered on Wednesday, June 23, 2015, at 10:00 pm EST on History.
Milo tin is a Malaysian pejorative used to describe unsafe or cheaply made vehicles. It is comparable to the slang term, 'deathtrap'.
