Production vehicle

The characteristics of a production vehicle or production car are mass-produced 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.

A Volkswagen assembly line in 1960 at Wolfsburg

Origin

The term production car had come into vogue by about 1917 in the United States. The phrase was a shortened form of "mass-produced car". The phrase was also was used in terms of the car to be made in production, as opposed to the prototype.

Early production car - 1912 Ford Model T Touring

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 or assembly line. 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 instance, Guinness recognises a modified Jaguar XK120 as the world's fastest production car in 1949. The 2011 Guinness Book of Records listed the Bugatti Veyron as the world's fastest production car, but only five of this version were said to have been made. In 2013 their decision was appealed on the ground that the Bugatti was a modified version - the limiter was turned off. Guinness upheld the appeal and initiated a review of their production car definition. The outcome of the review was that turning off the limiter was not a fundamental modification and the Bugatti record was reinstated.

Definitions

Motorsports

1956 Chrysler 300-B Stock car

When used in motorsports, the term is quite exact and a certain number of a model must be produced in order to qualify for the term. The 1968 FIA rules stated that production cars were, for sports cars, at least 25 identical cars produced within a 12 month period and which were meant for normal sale to the individual purchasers. FIA rules tend to allow a degree of modification from the original.
The Utah Salt Flats Racing Association, which is concerned solely with the speed of a vehicle, 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 was classified as being the fastest production model 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 referred to the car as production based, which was probably a more accurate description.

Legislation

Various countries have laws that define production vehicles. For example, in the United States Briggs Cunningham'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 classified them as high-performance prototype automobiles built as racecars. Legislative definitions tend to revolve around issues of safety or revenue (taxation).

2009 Alpina B7 limousine

Modified cars

Some performance specialists, such as Alpina who modify BMW's, are recognized as vehicle manufacturers by government bodies. This brings them within the definition of a production vehicle in their country. Not all performance specialists are officially recognised and their cars are not usually referred to as production vehicles.

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 prototypes or development mules, which themselves may be preceded by concept cars. Pre-production vehicles are followed by production vehicles in the mass production for distribution through car dealerships.

Last updated on 20 June 2013 at 16:47.