Getting Started

Introduction

Authentication

Database Structure

Images

Rate Limit


v1 API

v1 Search

v1 Lookup

v1 List

v1 All


v2 API

v2 Search

v2 Lookup

v2 List

v2 All


API Extras

Swagger / OpenAPI

Postman Collection

AI MCP

TheVehicleDB API Documentation

Introduction

TheVehicleDB API provides JSON access to vehicle brands, production models, factories, and countries. The current database is organised around three primary entities: brands, models, and factories. v1 and v2 now expose the same simple vehicle data concepts; the main difference is how the API key is supplied.


Authentication

v1 uses the API key in the URL path. The public test key is 3 and returns one item per request. 
v1 Base URL = https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3
v2 uses the X-API-KEY request header. Use the public test key 3 to try the examples below. 
v2 Base URL = https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v2/json
Header = X-API-KEY: 3


Database Structure

Brands use idBrand as the primary key. Important fields include strBrand, strBrandAlternate, strCountry, intFormedYear, and brand artwork fields.

Models use idModel as the primary key. Each model belongs to idBrand and may link to idFactory. Important fields include strModel, strBrand, strClassification, intFirstYear, intLastYear, strCountry, and model artwork fields.

Factories use idFactory as the primary key. Important fields include strFactory, strFactoryAlternate, strCountry, strLocation, intFormedYear, and factory artwork fields.


Images

Artwork URLs are returned directly in the JSON response. Preview sizes are available by appending /medium, /small, or /tiny to supported image URLs. 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/images/media/model/thumb/tzpxlk1756114126.jpg
https://www.thevehicledb.com/images/media/model/thumb/tzpxlk1756114126.jpg/medium
https://www.thevehicledb.com/images/media/model/thumb/tzpxlk1756114126.jpg/small
https://www.thevehicledb.com/images/media/model/thumb/tzpxlk1756114126.jpg/tiny


Rate Limit

You will receive a 429 HTTP response if you breach your request limit.

arrow list Free users 30 requests per minute.
arrow list Premium users 100 requests per minute.
arrow list Business users 120 requests per minute.

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Search endpoints return matching records and the IDs needed for faster lookups.

Search Brands 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3/searchbrand.php?b=ac
Search Models 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3/searchmodel.php?m=cobra
Search Factories 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3/searchfactory.php?f=cassino

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Lookup endpoints return an entity by its primary ID.

Lookup Brand 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3/lookupbrand.php?id=4164
Lookup Model 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3/lookupmodel.php?id=12
Lookup Factory 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3/lookupfactory.php?id=1141

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List endpoints return related records from the vehicle database.

List Models By Brand 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3/list_models.php?id=4164
List Brands By Country 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3/list_brands.php?c=united_kingdom
List Factories By Brand 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3/list_factories.php?id=4171

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Broad reference lists.

All Countries 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3/all_countries.php
All Brands 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3/all_brands.php
All Models 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3/all_models.php
All Factories 
https://www.thevehicledb.com/api/v1/json/3/all_factories.php

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Search Brands 
/api/v2/json/search/brand/ac
Search Models 
/api/v2/json/search/model/cobra
Search Factories 
/api/v2/json/search/factory/cassino

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Lookup Brand 
/api/v2/json/lookup/brand/4164
Lookup Model 
/api/v2/json/lookup/model/12
Lookup Factory 
/api/v2/json/lookup/factory/1141

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List Models By Brand 
/api/v2/json/list/models/4164
List Brands By Country 
/api/v2/json/list/brands/united_kingdom
List Factories By Brand 
/api/v2/json/list/factories/4171

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All Countries 
/api/v2/json/all/countries
All Brands 
/api/v2/json/all/brands
All Models 
/api/v2/json/all/models
All Factories 
/api/v2/json/all/factories

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OpenAPI / Swagger

OpenAPI specifications are available for client generation and external documentation tooling.


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