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Tail Lights - A set of housings that include a vehicles brake lamps, reverse lights and rear turn signal lights.
Tailgate - The rear door of a station wagon.
Targa - A two-door coupe with removable hard top panel(s) over the front seat.
T-Bucket - A modified Model T that is basically a chassis, a drivetrain, and a (usually) fiberglass bucket with room for two passengers. Most T-Buckets today are kit cars.
Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) - TSB's are issued by the manufacturer for problems that affect the normal operation of the vehicle. It covers known problems and provide repair instructions for service technicians and accordingly are distributed to all of the manufacturer's dealerships.
Telematics - The integrated use of telecommunications in a vehicle.
Telemetrics - The integrated use of telecommunications and electronic data communications in a vehicle.
Thermostatically Controlled Air Cleaner - A device on carbureted engines to control emissions, which contains a thermostat-controlled diverter that ducts air warmed by the exhaust manifold to the carburetor during cold conditions, and then ambient air to it once a certain temperature has been attained. This enables the engine to reach a normal operating temperature and end its fuel-rich/inefficient cold-temperature mode as quickly as possible.
Thomas Guide - A series of spiral-bound atlases featuring detailed street maps of various large metropolitan areas in the United States.
Three on the Tree - A three-speed manual transmission with its gearshift lever mounted on the steering column.
Three Position Coupe - A Coupe deVille with a roof that can be closed completely, similar to the deVille extension, or opened completely like a convertible.
Three-Window - A 1920s or 1930s two-door coupe that has no side windows behind the doors. The three windows are the two doors and the rear window (the windshield isn't counted). See also five-window.
Throttle & Kick Down Lever Ball Studs - Lubricated pivot points for the throttle or kickdown linkages.
Throttle Linkage - A collection of mechanical connections between a vehicles accelerator pedal and its throttle body or carburetor.
Throttle System - The components used to control the volume of air to the engine.
Tie Rod Ends - Ball and socket parts of the steering linkage that connect the wheel spindles to the rack and pinion or center link.
Tier 1 EPA Program - The EPAs first vehicle emission program promulgated under the Clean Air Act of 1994, which set more stringent national vehicle emissions standards than had previously existed.
Tier 2 EPA Program - The EPAs second vehicle emission program promulgated under the Clean Air Act of 1994, which set more stringent national vehicle emissions standards than the Tier 1 EPA Program.
Timing Belt - A "toothed" belt that drives an overhead camshaft or camshafts (and in some vehicles a water pump).
Timing Belt Tensioner - A spring-loaded idler wheel that automatically keeps the timing belt under enough tension to prevent the timing belt from allowing the camshaft(s) it controls to go out of sync.
Tint - A transparent plastic film applied to a vehicles windows that reduces visible light transmission and, in some cases, rejects heat by reducing UV and infrared transmissions.
Tire Diameter - The diameter, in inches, of a tire.
Tire Inflator - A device used to inflate, or inflate and seal, a collapsible spare or flat tire.
Tire Inflator Sealant Cartridge - A disposable container of pressurized sealing compound.
Tire Load Index - A numerical value assigned to a tire by its manufacturer to indicate the tires capability to carry a load The higher the index number, the greater its load capability. Also referred to as "load rating."
Tire Prefix - An alphabetic value assigned to a tire by its manufacturer to indicate intended uses, such as "P" for passenger cars and "LT" for light trucks.
Tire Pressure Monitoring System - An electronic system that measures and displays to the driver the amount of pressure in a vehicles tires.
Tire Profile - A numeric value assigned to a tire by its manufacturer to indicate the relationship between the tires sidewall height and its tread width.
Tire Size - Information displayed on the sidewall of a tire that includes its prefix and information about its dimensions, load capacity and speed rating.
Tire Speed Rating - An alphanumeric value assigned to a tire by its manufacturer that indicates the maximum speed the tire can safely sustain for a ten-minute period.
Title - Sometimes referred to as the "pink slip." The legal document issued by the state in which the vehicle is purchased that reflects the person or entity registered with the state as its legal owner.
Tonneau - Originally the rear seating area, but now the term is usually used to refer to a rear storage area.
Tonneau Cover - A fabric cover to protect the tonneau area of a vehicle.
Torpedo - A long wheelbase very smooth touring car with flat panel's low doors and sides that offered no protection from the weather. They succeeded Tourers and Phaetons.
Total Due at Signing - The total cost that must be paid by the lessee at the inception of a vehicle lease, which typically includes the first months lease payment, any security deposit required by the leasing company, any acquisition fee charged by the leasing company, any documentation fees charged by the dealer, and various state registration fees. Also referred to as "Drive Off Fees."
Touring Car - A four-door open design that has no windows or top, like the Baquet.
Tow Hooks - Metal hooks or eyelets, either fixed or removable, that are attached to a structurally sound section of a vehicles frame and used as pickup points for tow cables.
Towing Capable - A vehicle with features and equipment that make it well-suited for pulling a trailer.
Towing Capacity - The maximum amount of weight a vehicle is capable of towing (according to its manufacturer).
Town Cabriolet - A town car in which the covered rear section converts to an open car.
Town Car - A chauffeur driven car with the passengers fully enclosed and the chauffeur exposed, like a Sedanca, deVille or Brougham.
Track - The distance from the center plane of one wheel to the center plane of its opposing wheel.
Traction Control System (TCS) - A safety feature that regulates wheel spin and prevents loss of control under acceleration by ensuring maximum traction and contact between the tires and the road (by adjusting brake pressure to one or more wheels, closing the throttle, or reducing the fuel supply to at least one or more cylinders).
Trade-in - A vehicle that is currently owned by the purchaser of a new or used vehicle from a dealer and that is exchanged for the newly purchased vehicle in order to reduce its net price.
Trailer Hitch - A metal device attached to a structurally sound section of a vehicles frame that is used to support a trailer while coupling it to the vehicle.
Trailer Hitch Mountings - Trailer hitch attachment points on the body or chassis.
Trailer Queen - A term used for a collector car that has been restored and is transported to shows in or on trailers with little or no mileage on the odometer.
Trailer Wiring - A flat, four-way, weatherproof connector located near a vehicles trailer hitch used to complete the circuits for a trailers ground, running, left signal, right signal and break lights.
Transaxle - A combination transmission and differential/drive axle assembly.
Transfer Case Fluid - Lubricant used in the transfer case.
Transmission Modes - Driver-selectable transmission settings that change drive ratios and/or shift points for fuel economy or performance.
Transmission Overdrive - A final gear ratio for an automatic transmission that has an output speed greater than its input speed, which increases highway fuel economy.
Transmission Type - The type of transmission: automatic, manual, shiftable automatic or automated manual.
Trip Computer - An electronic device used to calculate and display trip information, such as distance traveled, average speed and fuel economy.
Tri-Power - Engine with three 2 barrel carburetors.
Trunk - Rear storage compartment.
T-Top - A vehicle roof with removable panels on either side of a rigid bar, running from the center of the vehicles A pillar to the center of its B pillar.
Tubbed - A vehicle that has been modified to allow enormous rear tires that don't protrude past the wheel well.
Tudor Sedan - Ford's term for a two-door sedan.
Turbocharger - Device that compresses air for forced induction off the pressure of exhaust gases. Turbocharging requires a substantial volume of exhaust gases to generate boost. This either has to come from a larger motor, such as a V-8, or a smaller motor operating at high RPMs.
Turn Signals - Flashing amber-colored lights that indicate when a vehicles driver intends to make a turn or lane change.
Turning Circle - The diameter of the circle made by a vehicle in a full-lock 360 degree turn. Also referred to as "turning diameter" or "turning radius."
Twin Six - Packard's first twelve-cylinder car introduced in late 1915 and produced until 1920. When Packard reintroduced the new V12 in 1932, the term was reused for that first year only.
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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