Automotive Design Terminology

Yeah, this should be an interesting post. Maybe these terms have bounced around elsewhere, but I figured it would be neat to gather them and put in this blog post. At one time way back I even made a wiki of this, but it was deleted a long time back. So now I've got to start over from scratch...

Here it goes.

Cab: The enclosed or semi-enclosed volume of the car that contains the driver and vehicle occupants.
Cab forward: The passenger area is weighted to the front of the vehicle.
Cab back: The passenger area is moved to the aft of the vehicle.
Greenhouse: The upper section of the cab surrounded by windows. Thus the term.
Wheel arch: The definitive shape made by side on view of a wheel enclosure.
Wheel bucket: The volume of the wheel enclosure.
Fender: An area of the car body or an attached piece that surrounds a wheel.
Fender flare: an outward exension of the body surrounding the wheel arch.
Quarter-panel: a section of a car body that is removable from the main chassis.
Wing: Rear topside spoiler. U.K. also uses this term for fender.
Beltline: An implied line going through the vertical center of the lower body of a vehicle. Sometimes accentuated with trim or two-tone paint.
Swage line: A distinctive line or crease added to the body of a car that enhances the appearance of a visual shape.
cladding: Pieces of trim added to the lower body of a car. Also to protect body paint from road debris.
Spoilers: Trim or body pieces added to the car with the intent of adding aerodynamic downforce.
Trunk: Rear enclosed portion of a sedan or coupe. U.K. calls this a boot.
ground effects: cladding or lower body spoilers added for more aesthetic purposes than functional ones.
Hood: Forward enclosed portion of the car that typically contains the engine. U.K. calls this a bonnet.
Brightwork: polished chrome trim pieces added to a car.
Jeweled glass: various facets or shiny reflectors seen in lights and reflectors.
Bling: contemporary term for eyecatching brightwork and jeweled glass.
Roof line: the distinctive shape defined by the top surfaces of a vehicle as viewed side-on.
window line: the distinctive shape defined by the lower edge of the greenhouse glass.
wheelbase: distance from bottom of front wheel to bottom of rear wheel.
overhang: distance which overhangs the wheelbase, front or rear.