Silhouette racing car

A silhouette racing car is a race car which, although bearing a superficial resemblance to a production model, differs mechanically in fundamental ways. The purpose of silhouette cars is to provide a manufacturer with a tangible link to their consumer product offerings so as to derive maximum marketing benefit from their investment in the sport. They also provide spectators with familiar, identifiable car models.

The use of a special-purpose racing car chassis rather than modifying a production car offers a number of potential benefits for a competition, which vary in importance depending on the specific class. They may include:

• Higher performance than is feasible with a production-based chassis.
• Reduced barriers to entering a new make or model in a series (because they are not required to develop a complete car)^[1]
• Improved safety