The Rambler American introduced in the late 1950s was an early compact car.

Compact car is a largely North American term denoting an automobile smaller than a midsize 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. American 400 Rambler auto, still in working order, spotted on the street in downtown New Orleans, August 2003. ... American 400 Rambler auto, still in working order, spotted on the street in downtown New Orleans, August 2003. ... Political highlights of North America North America is the third largest continent in area and the fourth ranked in population. ... A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... A mid-size car, frequently referred to as an intermediate, is an automobile with a size between that of a compact and a full-size or standard-size car. ... The Nash Metropolitan of the 1950s was an early subcompact car. ... In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the distance between the center of the front and rear wheels. ... The metre (Commonwealth English) or meter (American English) (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ...

Although compact cars had been made in the United States before, the modern compact class is considered to have begun in 1959 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. The original Rambler was an automobile produced of the Thomas B. Jeffery Company then by its successor, Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and finally, by its successor, American Motors Corporation (all in Kenosha, Wisconsin). ... 1960 Studebaker Lark convertible was advertised extensivly; the airborne womens handkerchiefs mimicked the cars stylized lark in flight insignia. ... The Chevrolet Corvair was a rear-engined automobile produced by General Motors from 1960 to 1969. ... The Ford Falcon is a car which has been manufactured by Ford since 1960. ... The Plymouth Valiant was an automobile manufactured by the Plymouth division of Chrysler Corporation in the United States from 1960 to 1976. ... A pony car is a class of automobile. ... A 2005 Mustang GT Convertible The Ford Mustang is a popular sports car. ...

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. The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... The 1970s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1970 and 1979. ... Automakers are companies that produce automobiles. ... The Ford Pinto was a compact car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. ... The Chevrolet Vega (Pontiacs version was known as the Pontiac Astre) was a compact coupe and station wagon sold from 1971 through 1977 as a replacement for the ill-fated Chevrolet Corvair. ...

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". 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt 2005 Pontiac Pursuit (Courtesy GM Canada) The Chevrolet Cobalt is a compact car that was introduced by Chevrolet in 2004 for the 2005 model year. ... A sport utility vehicle (SUV) or off-roader is a vehicle that combines the load-hauling and passenger-carrying capacity of a large station wagon or minivan with features designed for off-road driving. ... Ford Motor Companys Escape debuted in 2001 as a compact crossover SUV, priced below the Ford Explorer. ...

This term is not commonly used in Europe, where vehicles tend to be smaller and use a different size class system. A satellite composite image of Europe // Etymology Picture of Europa, carried away by bull-shaped Zeus. ...

See also

• Import scene
• Vehicle size class
• Sport compact

The Import scene or Import racing scene refers to the subculture that revolves around modifying imported brand cars (commonly referred to as imports), especially those of Japanese brands, for street racing in the United States. ... North America Vehicle size classes in use in North America categorise automobiles by their relative lengths and volumes. ... Sport compact automobiles are small cars that can be made to run much faster than the factory originally intended. ...

External links

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