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Compact car

Economy car

Compact car is a largely North American term denoting an automobile smaller than a mid-size car, but larger than a subcompact car. Compact cars usually have wheelbases between 2.54 metres (100 inches) and 2.67 metres (105 inches). Another definition specifies between 100 ft³ (2800 L) and 109 ft³ (3000 L) of interior volume.

Although compact cars had been made in the United States before, the modern compact class is considered to have begun between 1958 and 1960, when the Rambler American, Studebaker Lark, Chevrolet Corvair, Ford Falcon, and Plymouth Valiant all appeared in rapid succession. Within a few years after that, the compacts had given rise to a new class called the pony car, named after the Ford Mustang, which was built on the Falcon chassis. At that time, there was a distinct difference in size between compact and full-size models, and an early definition of the compact was a vehicle with an overall length of less than 200".

During the 1960s, compacts were the smallest class, but in the early 1970s, automakers introduced even smaller models, the subcompact, such as the Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega.

Today, although the general downsizing of all vehicles has somewhat blurred size class distinctions, the compact segment is still discernible as a class smaller than the average car but larger than the smallest models on the market. The Chevrolet Cobalt would be an example. The term has also been adopted to describe small SUVs, such as the Ford Escape. Compact SUVs are sometimes called "cute-utes" or "soft-roaders".

This term is not commonly used in Europe, where the classification system is different (the term small family car is used for compact cars).

See also

• Vehicle size class
• Family car
• Sport compact

External links

• Official US government car size class definitions
• A short account of the rise of the compacts

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