This website may very well have the most comprehensive array of specifications and technical data about automobiles from around the world. Both current and classic cars dating back to 1945 are covered.
I have found information here that I wasn’t able to track down anywhere else, such as interior dimensions for General Motors’ full-sized cars from the late-60s. That said, while working on this post I found gaps in some of the Catalog’s data. In addition, I sometimes wondered whether interior dimensions listed for one type of body style were actually from another. That mattered in this particular story because I wanted an apples-to-apples comparison of interior dimensions for four-door hardtops. I suspect that’s not what I got from the Catalog.
In addition, it appears that the website draws at least some of its information from the manufacturer. I found that to be problematic when researching the AMC Pacer for this story. The Catalog lists the front shoulder room for a 1978 AMC Pacer at 58.7 inches. How did the Pacer grow an extra 1.4 inches in shoulder room from the previous year when the car had not been redesigned? My guess is that AMC goosed the numbers because they were rightfully concerned that the newly downsized cars from General Motors and Ford would make the Pacer look dreadfully space-inefficient. In my story I used the 1977 numbers.
The punchline here is to use the data with caution — ideally by cross-referencing it with another source.
Automobile Catalog
- Free access
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