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Safety Recall - A safety recall is a campaign in which a manufacturer of either motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment recalls the product to correct either a safety defect or a noncompliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). It is free of charge to the owner and does not expire. Also referred to as a "Recall".
Salvage Title - An automobile title with a notation that the vehicle has been damaged in excess of approximately 70% of its pre-accident market value. The exact percentage depends on the insurance provider and any applicable laws and regulations. This notation gets applied to a title when an insurance company pays a total-loss claim on a vehicle, but then sells the vehicle at an auction center.
Satellite Communication - A proprietary system used to send and receive vehicle data, crash information, concierge services and navigation to and from a vehicle through communications satellites.
Satellite Radio - A radio receiver that receives radio signals broadcast from communications satellites rather than a conventional terrestrial tower.
Scheduled Maintenance Warranty - A warranty that covers service procedures recommended by the manufacturer at predetermined intervals to preserve and/or prolong the life of a vehicle.
Scrub Line - The lower edge of the car's wheels. Frame and suspension components should not be below this line, as they can come in contact with the pavement in the event of a flat tire.
Seat Adjustment Type - The type of adjustment control for the seats: manual, power or power-with-memory.
Seat Belts - Harnesses designed to secure vehicle occupants during a collision.
Seat Extension - An attached support, consisting of a metal frame with upholstered foam, that lengthens a vehicles seat bottom.
Seat Features - Devices integrated into a vehicles seats that control seat temperature, seat adjustability, driver comfort and other settings.
Seatback Storage - A storage pocket that is either attached to the backside of the seat or integrated into the seat itself.
Seating Capacity - The number of people that can be safely seated and restrained in a vehicle, including the driver.
Secondary Air Supply System - A type of emissions-reducing system that promotes the combustion of unburnt hydrocarbons in the exhaust stream by introducing oxygen (fresh air) pulled in by a vacuum created by exhaust pulsations (and which essentially performs the same function as an air injection system without relying on an air pump or diverter valve).
Security Deposit - A payment required at the inception of a vehicle lease to provide collateral to the leasing company for the lessees promise to comply with the terms of the lease.
Sedanca - An early body style with a convertible half-top that only covers the rear seat.
Self Leveling Suspension (SLS) Filter - An SLS filter ia a device used to remove contaminants from hydraulic fluid in a self-leveling suspension system.
Separate Rear Audio - The capability of a vehicles sound system to deliver a different audio source to the rear seat passengers than the audio source being delivered to the front seat passengers.
Sequential Manual Gearbox (SMG) - A conventional clutch-type manual transmission that employs electronic, pneumatic and/or hydraulic actuators in place of a conventional clutch pedal, and a purely mechanical shift lever. The driver may select either fully automatic shift mode or driver-controlled shift mode. Also referred to as "DSG," "direct shift gearbox," and an "Automated Manual Transmission."
Series Hybrid - An electric vehicle with a gasoline combustion engine that is only used to recharge the vehicle’s batteries. The gasoline engine does not drive the wheels directly. An example is the Chevrolet Volt.
Serpentine Belt - A ribbed drive belt that drives more than one engine accessory.
Service Reminder Light - A light that indicates that general vehicle maintenance is needed or that a specific service is required.
Shaved - A car with the door handles and side trim removed, as in "shaved handles".
Shields and Under-Hood Insulation - Heat-proof panels and padding that protect under-hood components from excessive heat.
Shift Control Mechanism - The location of the shift control mechanism, which includes levers, paddles or buttons.
Shift Linkage - Any collection of mechanical connections between a vehicles operating control(s) and its transmission.
Shift Protocol - The means by which a driver changes gears, including buttons, paddles or a lever.
Shiftable Automatic Transmission - An automatic torque converter transmission equipped with a feature that permits the driver to actively select either fully automatic or driver-controlled shift modes by using a dual-gate shifter and/or remote shifter controls.
Shooting Brake - This is a European term used typically to describe a car that is a cross between a two-door sports coupe and an estate car. Made popular by the well heeled as they wanted a vehicle to move larger than normal amounts of cargo without having to resort to a dowdy estate car or station wagon!
Short Block - An automotive term describing an engine sub-assembly. A short block is the portion of the engine block below the head gasket but above the oil pan. An in-block cam engine will also include the camshaft and timing gear. The overhead cam style of engine will not include the aforementioned parts on the shortblock. A shortblock is usually purchased to upgrade the water jacket, piston size or bore. Assemblies typically include the crankshaft installed and balanced along with the main bearing.
Shoulder Room - The distance from the drivers upper door panel to the front passengers upper door panel.
Side Curtain Rollover Sensor - A sensor that determines in the event of a collision whether or not it is necessary to deploy a vehicles side curtain airbags.
Side Impact Beam - A structural support designed to protect a vehicles occupants from side impacts.
Side Pockets - A storage pocket that is either attached to the door panel of a vehicle or integrated into the vehicle door.
Sidemount - Spare tire mounted in the front fender.
Single Overhead Camshaft (SOHC) - One camshaft for each cylinder bank.
Single-Limit Insurance - An autmotive insurance policy with a single combined dollar limit of coverage for property damage, liability coverage and bodily inury coverage.
Six-Pack - An engine intake with three two-barrel carburetors.
Skid Plate - A shield typically attached to the bottom of a vehicles front bumper that is designed to guard the undercarriage in the case of insufficient ground clearance.
Sleeper - A high-performance car that doesn't look capable of what it can do.
Slicks - Wide tires made of very soft rubber with no tread, used in drag racing because they provide maximum traction during hard acceleration. Not legal for street use.
Sliding Rear Window - A small window inside a trucks rear windshield that opens and closes by sliding on a system of metal or plastic rails attached to the windshield.
Sliding Scale - A means by which car clubs, shows, insurance companies or licensing bureaus decide vehicle acceptability by model year. While a "cut-off year" stops at a specific year (ie, nothing newer than 1948), a sliding scale uses a pre-set limit, such as 25 years, which allows in a year's worth of newer vehicles each year. For example, a 25-year sliding scale would allow model-year 1985 vehicles in 2010, and model-year 1986 vehicles in 2011.
Small Block - It relates to the physical size of the block not displacement and it is different for each manufacturer. Chevy, Ford and Chrysler had two general castings. Big and Small.
SmartWay - A designation issued by the EPA for new vehicles with a score of six or higher in both air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and a combined total of more than 13.
SmartWay Elite - A designation issued by the EPA given to new vehicles with a score of nine or higher in both air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Smog-Forming Pollution - Pollutants in the hydrocarbon or NOx families that produce photochemical smog when combined in the presence of sunlight.
Smoked Glass - A vehicle window that has been infused with pigment during manufacturing in order to provide enough opacity to obscure the vehicles interior from view.
Snowplow Prep - The hardware needed to attach a factory-optional, removable snowplow to a vehicles front bumper and/or frame.
Soft Top - A slang term for a convertible top made out of fabric. Also known as a ragtop
Solar Power - Energy derived directly from the sun through photovoltaic cells or other devices that convert light energy into electricity or heat.
Solar Sunroof - A sunroof with a photovoltaic panel infused into its glass that is used to power interior ventilation fans in order to lower cabin temperature when a vehicle is parked in the sun.
Spare - A fifth wheel and tire that is stored on or in a vehicle for use when one of the four tires in use becomes disabled.
Spark Plug Wires - Cables that carry a high-voltage electrical charge from the distributor cap or ignition coils to the spark plugs.
Speaker Configuration - The number and arrangement of speakers as well as the number of independent speaker channels (including center and subwoofer channels) that are supported by a vehicles sound system.
Special Lease - A form of "incentive and rebate" that consists of a vehicle lease offered by a vehicle manufacturer in which the amount of the monthly payment is reduced below that then offered by independent leasing companies (the cost of which is absorbed by the manufacturer). Typically this is accomplished by using a higher residual value or a lower interest rate, or both. Also referred to as a "subsidized lease" or "subvented lease."
Speed-Sensitive Volume Control - A feature in some vehicle sound systems that lowers the speaker volume in proportion to vehicle speed.
Spiff - A cash incentive, contest entry or prize given by a dealership to salespersons as motivation to sell vehicles.
Split-Limit Insurance - A policy with separately stated dollar limits for different types of coverage. Bodily injury liability coverage is also usually split into a maximum payment per person and a maximum payment per accident. (For example, an automobile liability policy of 50/100/25 provides a maximum of $50,000 bodily injury coverage per person, $100,000 bodily injury coverage per accident, and a property damage limit of $25,000 per accident.)
Spoiler - An attachment to a vehicle (or component of its body) originally introduced for the purpose of directing airflow over such device (or the entire vehicle) to decrease lift and increase stability at high speeds, but that is sometimes used on consumer vehicles solely for aesthetic reasons.
Sport Coupe - A two-door convertible.
Sportif - A very tight or narrow type of Phaeton.
Spyder - A light two-seater roadster (also called a Spider). The European term for the English Roadster.
Stability Control - A safety feature that improves the safety of a vehicles handling by detecting skids and compensating by adjusting braking pressure to help maintain the intended direction of the vehicle. Some stability control systems also reduce engine power until control is regained. Also known as "electronic stability control" or "ESC."
Starter Safety Switch - An electrical switch that prevents the starter from being engaged unless certain conditions are met, such as shifter placement or brake pedal depression.
Start-Stop System - A system typically found in hybrid vehicles that automatically stops and restarts the internal combustion engine to reduce the amount of time the engine spends idling and improve fuel economy.
Station Wagon - A four-door vehicle extended for a third seat or luggage area, with a rear door or tailgate.
Steering Column Lock - A mechanism that prevents steering wheel movement unless the ignition switch is moved from the locked position.
Steering Damper - A shock absorber attached to the steering linkage intended to prevent abrupt "kickback" at the steering wheel, usually found on trucks or vehicles that can be used off-road.
Steering Gearbox - A steering mechanism that converts the rotational motion of a steering wheel to the side-to-side motion of a lever that is connected to the steering linkage.
Steering Intermediate Shaft - A component in the steering system that connects the steering shaft to the steering mechanism.
Steering Knuckle - The pivoting component to which the front wheel hubs are attached.
Steering Linkage - The arrangement of rods and lubricated joints connecting the steering gearbox to the wheel spindles.
Steering Rack - The steering component that converts the rotational motion of the steering wheel to the horizontal motion necessary to operate the steering linkage.
Steering Wheel Adjustment - The mechanism that controls the position of a vehicles steering column to suit the needs of the driver.
Steering Wheel Controls - Electronic controls for a vehicles entertainment, cruise control, telematics and/or climate control systems that are mounted on the steering wheel for the driver’s convenience.
Sticker Price - A suggested selling price set by the manufacturer based on region. Also referred to as the "MSRP" or "List Price" .
Stock - An original, unmodified car.
Storage Media - The physical media that a vehicle sound system is capable of playing and/or recording to, such as CD, DVD, hard drive, USB or flash drive.
Stovebolt - A six-cylinder Chevrolet engine, introduced for 1929; the basic design was used in cars until the 1960s, and as long as the 1980s in some trucks. Also called the "Cast Iron Wonder", it got the name from its bolts, which resembled those used on stoves.
Street Machine - A high-performance car that's legal to drive on the street.
Street Rod - A highly modified vehicle built prior to 1948.
Striker - A post or pin that a door latch mechanism grabs to hold the door closed.
Striker Pillar - The pillar that the door striker is attached to.
Stroke - The distance, in inches, between the centerline of an engines crankshaft and the centerline of its connecting rod journal.
Stroked - An engine modified with a longer piston stroke (the distance the piston can travel up and down in its cylinder) to produce more power. Often combined with boring (increasing the diameter of the cylinder); the resulting engine is described as stroked and bored.
Subprime - A loan made to a borrower with a low credit rating and that typically bears interest at a higher rate to compensate the lender for the greater risk.
Subsidized or Subvented Lease - A form of "incentive and rebate" that consists of a vehicle lease offered by a vehicle manufacturer in which the amount of the monthly payment is reduced below that then offered by independent leasing companies (the cost of which is absorbed by the manufacturer). Typically this is accomplished by using a higher residual value or a lower interest rate, or both. Also referred to as a "special lease".
Suburban - A seven passenger model vehicle produced by General Motors.
Suicide Door - A rear-hinged door. So named because if it is opened while moving the wind will push it open.
Sunroof - A fixed or operable opening in the roof of a vehicle that is covered with a metal or glass plug.
Sunshade - A removable or retractable device that limits or prevents light from passing through a vehicles window.
Super Sport (SS) - A sporty designation used by General Motors.
Supercharger - A means of forced induction, i.e., using compressed air to get a higher density of oxygen in the air-fuel mixture. Supercharging utilizes power from the crankshaft to compress air. The two main types of superchargers are the Roots blowers that mount atop the engine, and are particularly popular in ProStreet cars; and Paxton-type superchargers that mount to the side of the engine, and are sometimes found in production cars.
Supercharger Drive Belt - A "toothed" belt used to drive a pulley that turns the impeller of a centrifugal-style supercharger.
Supercharger Fluid - A liquid used to lubricate the internal components (for example, the impeller and the bearings) of a supercharger.
Superleggera - Super light
Super-Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) - A vehicle that meets an emissions standard that is stricter than the ULEV standard.
Suspended Pedals - Older cars had pedals that came up through holes in the floorboards. Suspended or "swing" pedals, now used on all cars, hang down from the cowl.
Suspension Fluid - A fluid used in suspension systems that are hydraulically adjustable.
Suspension Geometry - The relationship between the placement of the mounting points for each of a vehicles suspension components.
Here is a list of various Automotive Definitions. These are not specific to just Classic Cars, but covers all Automotive Definitions in general. This is not an all inclusive list and as we come across more, we will add them here. Drop us a note if you see something we missed.
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