Vehicles API

Every vehicle make and model, with body type and production years.

API key required OpenAPI API conventions

A reference list of vehicle manufacturers and the models they build, maintained by Bodek and used in production by Beat the Boot to identify vehicles.

Makes are deduplicated and normalised, so "Mercedes", "Mercedes-Benz" and "MERCEDES" all resolve to one record with a stable slug you can match on. Each model carries its body type and the years it was produced, as an ascending list of single years and ranges ("1985-2001,2023-", where a trailing hyphen means still in production). The parsed first and last year are also exposed as numbers, so "everything sold in 2015" is one filtered request.

Calls need a Bodek API key; create one at https://api.bodek.us/keys.

Every call needs a key. Sign in to create one. Bodek API is included with the plans that cover it.

Endpoints

GET /v1/vehicles/makes Makes

GET /v1/vehicles/makes/{id} A single record

GET /v1/vehicles/models Models

GET /v1/vehicles/models/{id} A single record

Try it

https://api.bodek.us/v1/vehicles/makes?limit=5

This panel sends no key, so it answers 401 — it is here to show you the shape of a request and the error envelope. Use curl with your own key to see data.

Makes

Vehicle manufacturers, one record each, with a stable slug for matching.

Field	Type	Description
`id`	integer	Stable identifier for this make.
`name`	string	Display name, e.g. "Toyota".
`slug`	string	Lowercase, punctuation-free form — match on this.

curl "https://api.bodek.us/v1/vehicles/makes?limit=5&name=example&q=search+text" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BODEK_API_KEY"

Models

Every model, with its make, body type and production years.

Field	Type	Description
`id`	integer	Stable identifier for this model.
`make_id`	integer	The make this model belongs to.
`make`	string	Make name, e.g. "Honda".
`make_slug`	string	Lowercase make name — match on this.
`name`	string	Model name, e.g. "Accord".
`slug`	string	Lowercase model name — match on this.
`body_type`	string	Body style code: 4DSD, 2DSD, SUBN, PICK, VAN, HATCH, CONV, MCY and others.
`years`	string	Production years as an ascending list, e.g. "1985-2001,2023-". A trailing hyphen means still in production.
`year_min`	integer	First production year.
`year_max`	integer	Last production year, or 9999 while still in production.

curl "https://api.bodek.us/v1/vehicles/models?limit=5&make=example&q=search+text" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BODEK_API_KEY"

Limits

Up to 200 records per request (limit), 50 by default.
Rate limits are set per key, up to 600 requests a minute.
Responses are cached for up to 900 seconds and carry an ETag.