Car Body Parts Names with Images - Internal & External Auto Parts List

If you want to drive a car safely and maintain it properly, understanding different parts of it is important. Knowing the parts of your vehicle and how everything work helps you to identify a problem quickly and take necessary steps.

That’s why I’ve prepared the article below where I’ve shown the major car body parts names with images. For better understanding, I’ve divided the parts into two parts- external auto parts list and internal parts list. I hope it’ll help you to get a basic understanding of your car.

The descriptions here are just summary, to know more, you need to research and study deeper. I hope the basics here in this article will help you to start understanding your car.

External Car Body Parts Names with Images

1. Headlamp

Headlamp is an important part of a car, often called as headlight too. It is situated at the front side of the car and helps the driver to drive properly by removing the darkness in front. Headlamps of a vehicle produce different types of lights including- full beam light, dipped light, fog light, indicator, hazard warning light etc.

Generally, headlamps are powered by the battery of the vehicle to light up and show you the road. Halogen, Xenon and LED are some main types of headlamps which are being used nowadays.

2. Mirror

A car comes with three mirrors which help you to watch your back- a rearview mirror and two wing mirrors.

The rearview mirror is a flat mirror inside the car. It shows you what’s happening behind you. As it is a flat mirror, it shows the actual size and distance of the vehicles behind.

Two wing mirrors are situated in two sides of the car. These are convex mirror to ensure that you catch a wider vision. Also, these mirrors show the vehicles further than where they are.

3. Trunk

This is the main place where you store your belongings which you’re carrying with you. The cover that allows or denies access to the trunk is called a lid. In most cases, the trunk is the only storage of your car which is designed to store bags and luggage.

Generally, car trunk is situated at the back of it. In some vehicles where engine is situated at the middle, you’ll find trunks in both front and rear side.

4. Wheel

Wheels are the parts of the car which help it to move forward or backward. Each wheel is covered by a tire to ensure smooth running.

A wheel has different parts. Barrel, lug holes, centre cap, centre bore, centre disc, outer lip, spoke and valve stem are the major parts of a wheel. All these together make a wheel that function as one.

Wheels of a car are controlled through a complex system. To understand wheels properly, you’ll have to know about a lot of things including wheel size measurement, wheel offset, bolt pattern etc.

5. Hood

Hood is the part of a car which allows you access to the engine of the car. Typically it is situated in the front side of the vehicle where the engine is placed. In some old car models where engine was at the rear side, the hood was in the rear side too.

The main purpose of the hood is to save the engine and other related components from outside hazards like dust, rain, snow and so on. You can easily get access to your engine when needed just by opening the hood.

6. Bumper

This is the part of a car which keeps your car body safe from minor bumps or collision. Normally bumpers are made of metal or plastic to absorb minor shock from low-speed crash.

Though the main use of bumper is avoiding physical damages of a car, it is often used to enhance the look of the car too. You’ll find a lot of stylish bumpers out there in the market for this purpose. There are many types of bumpers available. Among those, step bumper, standard bumper, cowboy bumper, tube bumper are some common types.

7. Door

A car door is there to let you access inside the car and keep you safe when you’re inside. Depending on the model, you’ll find 2 to 4 doors in a car. Typically it is hinged with the car body. In most cases, doors are opened manually. But you’ll see doors that can be controlled from a distance too.

A car door has different parts, for example- door lock, door handle, door panel, storage compartment etc. The window of the car is also a part of the door. You’ll find the window glass controller too in the door.

8. Windshield

This is the big glass in the front that allows the driver and front seat passenger to see the road. The main task of windshield is to protect the driver from the wind created by moving forward. That’s why it is called windshield.

Nowadays, windshield is more than that. It is a safety component too for the driver as well as the front seat passenger.

In previous days, windshield was made of a piece of glass only. But in recent time, manufacturers are using laminated glass to make windshield so that the broken pieces of glass don’t harm the people inside.

9. Roof

The name says it. The roof is the protective layer above the passenger compartment which keeps everything inside safe from external elements like wind, rain, sun and others. In some cars, roofs are fixed and some cars come with roofs that can be opened. Sometimes roofs come with a small window that can be opened when needed.

The car roof can be converted into an external storage too. There are roof racks available in the market which can be installed in the roof to store something.

10. Tail light

Tail lights are the lights at the rear side of the car that light up when you brake. Thus thesealert the vehicles behind you that you are stopping. Also, these work as indicator when you are taking left or right turn.

Normally you’ll find two colors in tail lights- red and yellow. Having tail light is important because if you don’t signal the vehicles behind that you’re stopping, those may hit your car from behind.

Internal Car Body Parts Names with Images

1. Engine

Engine is called the heart of your car. Typically engine is placed at the front side of the car. But some models come with engine at the middle or rear side. Its duty is creating the force that turns the wheels by converting the heat from burning gas.

The task of engine is performing a complex process. For this, the engine has to be strong enough to withstand the load. There are different types of engines available in the market. The structures are different but main task is almost same in maximum engines.

2. Battery

This is another important part needed to run your car. It helps all the electric components of your car to run. The battery is mainly rechargeable so that it can supply electricity to all the components run by electricity. In early cars, most of the things were manual. So, there was no use of batteries.

Automobile batteries are wet cell batteries with six cells. The structure is not that complex. There are different types of automotive batteries available in the market. Each type has its own advantage.

3. Alternator

An alternator is an important port for the cars with internal combustion engine. It generates electric power and charges the battery when the engine is running. Besides powering up the battery, it supplies electric power to some mechanisms.

Different parts of an alternator are- stator and rotor, diode rectifier, voltage regulator, and cooling fan. Though battery gets the credit of powering the electric parts of a car, alternator is the main component that does it.

An alternator is places beside or in front of the vehicle engine as it gets mechanical power from the engine.

4. Radiator

Radiator has a great impact on running your car properly as it keeps the engine cool when it is running. Basically, it keeps the liquid gas cool by absorbing the heat from it. Then the gas enters into the engine and keeps the engine cool. The heat absorbed from the gas is sent outside of the car.

A radiator is consisted of a number of parts like- the core, pressure cap, transmission cooler, inlet and outlet tank etc. If your car radiator is not working, the engine will be damaged because of overheating.

5. Transmission

Transmission in a car refers to the gearbox. With the help of gear and gear trains, it helps you to change the speed and torque depending on the driving condition.

In British English, transmission is a wider concept. It that case, transmission means the whole drivetrain, including gearbox, clutch, differential, prop shaft and final drive shaft.

Transmission comes with a few gear ratios which allow you to switch between those depending on the speed variation. Recently, automatic transmission has become popular. In previous models, switching between the gears needed to be done manually.

6. Brake

Brake is that part of your car which helps you to slow down or stop your car when needed. Mostly, brakes slow down or stop a moving wheel by creating friction.

There are different types of brakes you’ll find. But maximum braking system includes some common components, which are- brake rotors, calipers, brake pads, wheel cylinders, installing hardware, brake cables and a few more.

7. Muffler

Muffler is a part of exhaust system of your car. It normally dampens the emissions and reduces engine noise. It is placed at the rear bottom of the vehicle.

When the exhaust valve opens, burnt gases are released in the exhaust system. The burnt gas creates a powerful sound wave. The muffler lowers the noise of the wave and releases it outside. The process is simple but the science behind it is a bit complex.

The mufflers need to be strong. Also it needs to be able to withstand huge amount of heat. As a result, mostly these are made of steel with aluminum coating.

8. Fuel Tank

Fuel tank is the storage where the fuel that helps to run the car is stored. Depending on the size of the car, the size of the tank varies. In compact cars, the fuel tank is comparatively smaller than other cars. It comes with an opening through which it is filled with fuel. Another opening leads the fuel from the tank to the engine.

Fuel tanks should be made of such a material that doesn’t contaminate the fuel inside. Also, those should be rustproof. As a result, these tanks are generally made from a combination of different metal.

9. Axle

Axle is a shaft under the car that holds the wheels together and allows those to rotate accordingly. Also, axles carry the weight of the car.

There are three main types of axles, which are- front axle (keeps the front wheels together), rear axle (keeps the rear wheels together) and stub axle (makes connection between the main axle and wheel).

The number of axle depends on the size of the car. Normally the front axle is responsible for responding to the movement of steering wheel.

10. Catalytic Converter

This is a part of your car that converts harmful emissions into less harmful emissions through chemical process. Because of the engine process, your car’s exhaust gas includes carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide and hydrocarbons. Catalytic converter turns these harmful gasses into carbon dioxide and water vapour.

You’ll find different types of catalytic converters in the market. Among those, two-way converter and three-way converters are most common.

Final Verdict

The car body parts names with images above are the most common things that you need to know about your car. There are definitely more as car is a complex structure. But as a user, you don’t need to know more than these.

But if you are interested to know more, you have the scope. Google it and you’ll get a deep see of resources. Dive in.