Glossary of Automotive Design - F

F

Fascia

The body-skin panel at the front of the car.

Fender (wings, UK)

Term for cowl covering the wheels of the vehicles. In more modern automobiles, this refers generally to the body panel or panels starting at the front "bumper" to the first door line excluding the engine hood. The opposite of the fender is the "quarter panel".

Frame-on-rail

A design used in older (pre-unibody) cars, trucks, and SUVs. The power train and body are mounted to a rigid structural framework called a rail.