Get Makes#

Returns every vehicle make in the database as normalized strings.

Use this before GET /auctions

Pass each string from data as the make query parameter on GET /auctions. Guessing make names from listings or marketing copy often returns no results.

Query limit: This endpoint is public and does not count toward your plan query limit. On MCP, list_makes is excluded the same way when it is the only tool call in that HTTP request.

GEThttps://api.oldcarsdata.com/makes

GET/makes

Edit request0 parameters

curl "https://api.oldcarsdata.com/makes"

Sends directly from your browser

Response example200

{
  "data": ["Alfa Romeo", "BMW", "Chevrolet", "Ford", "Porsche", "Toyota"]
}

Request Parameters#

No parameters required.

Code Examples#

cURL#

bash

curl "https://api.oldcarsdata.com/makes"

JavaScript#

javascript

const response = await fetch('https://api.oldcarsdata.com/makes');const data = await response.json();

Python#

python

import requestsresponse = requests.get('https://api.oldcarsdata.com/makes')data = response.json()

Success Response (200)#

Makes retrieved successfully.

json

{  "data": [    "Toyota",    "Ford",    "Chevrolet",    "BMW",    "Mercedes-Benz"  ]}

Response Fields#

Field	Type	Description
`data`#	array	Array of make names (strings), sorted alphabetically

Error Responses#

400Invalid requestCheck required values and accepted formats.

429Rate limit reachedWait for the reset window before retrying.

500Server errorRetry with exponential backoff.

Field	Type	Description
`error`#	string	Error type identifier
`message`#	string	Human-readable error message

500 — Internal Server Error:

json

{  "error": "Internal Server Error",  "message": "An unexpected error occurred"}