Vehicle frame

A vehicle frame, also known as its chassis, is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism.

Until the 1930s, virtually every (motor) vehicle had a structural frame, separate from the car's body. This construction design is known as body-on-frame. Since then, nearly all passenger cars have received unibody construction, meaning their chassis and bodywork have been integrated into one another. The last UK mass-produced car with a separate chassis was the Triumph Herald, which was discontinued in 1971. However, nearly all trucks, buses and pickups continue to use a separate frame as their chassis.