cars-data.com — Car Specs API + MCP server

REST API and remote MCP server over cars-data.com's multilingual vehicle-specs database: 102,191 vehicle variants, 1,300+ models, 5,299 generations, 180 spec types across 19 categories, in 19 languages (including Arabic, RTL).

• REST API: https://api.cars-data.com/v1
• MCP server (streamable HTTP): https://api.cars-data.com/mcp
• OpenAPI spec: openapi.yaml
• Also distributed as an Apify Actor (pay-per-event, no API key needed)

MCP server

Connect directly from Claude, ChatGPT connectors, Cursor, or Windsurf:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cars-data": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.cars-data.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Tools exposed:

Tool	What it does
search_cars	Free-text search across 102,191 variants, 116 brands, 19 languages
get_specs	Full localized specs for one variant — 180 spec types across 19 categories (safety, comfort/interior, engine & fuel, performance, EV/hybrid, chassis, exterior, dimensions & weights, WLTP/NEDC consumption, and more), with a confidence score and last_synced_at freshness timestamp
compare_variants	Side-by-side localized specs for 2-4 variants
list_generations	Generations/facelifts of a model, with production years
filter_cars	Structured filter: fuel, body, drive, power/price range, year, EV-only
get_images	Image URLs (own CDN) for a vehicle variant

The MCP server is unauthenticated for discovery (rate-limited per IP). No signup required to try it.

REST API

Base URL: https://api.cars-data.com/v1. Full reference in openapi.yaml.

curl https://api.cars-data.com/v1/variants/42164/specs?locale=de \
  -H "X-Api-Key: cd_free_..."

Endpoint	Description
GET /brands, /brands/{slug}, /brands/{slug}/models	Catalog: brands and models
GET /models/{id}/generations	Generations for a model
GET /generations/{id}/variants	Variants for a generation
GET /variants, /variants/{id}	Filterable variant listing / single variant
GET /variants/{id}/specs?locale=	Full localized specs (180 types, 19 languages)
GET /variants/{id}/images	Image URLs
GET /variants/{id}/prices	Price snapshot (single point-in-time, not a history)
GET /search?q=	Free-text search
GET /compare?ids=	Side-by-side specs for 2-4 variants
GET /specs/catalog	The full spec-type catalog (categories + counts)
GET /usage	Self-check current quota usage for your key

Get a free API key

curl -X POST https://api.cars-data.com/v1/keys \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email": "you@example.com", "accept_tos": true}'

Free tier: 1,000 requests/month, 20 req/min.

Pricing

• Free — 1,000 req/month, instant self-serve key, no payment.
• Apify — pay-per-event, billed through the Apify Store listing, no API key needed.
• x402 — per-call USDC payment on Base for agents that want to pay without an account (not yet live — see the project roadmap).

There is no subscription/Stripe tier — Free and Apify (and, later, x402) are the only paid paths.

Data & attribution

Data comes from cars-data.com's multilingual vehicle-specs database. See cars-data.com/api/terms for the API Terms of Service (attribution required on Free tier; no bulk extraction / resale).

License

The API and its documentation in this repository are provided as-is. Access to the underlying dataset is governed by the API Terms of Service, not an open-source license — this repo documents and hosts the server implementation, not a redistributable dataset.