Shell vehicle at a fast rate (8)
I believe the answer is:
carapace
'shell' is the definition.
(shell of an animal)
'vehicle at a fast rate' is the wordplay.
'vehicle' becomes 'car' (car is a kind of vehicle).
'at' says to put letters next to each other.
'fast rate' becomes 'pace' (pace is a kind of rate. I am not sure about the 'fast' bit.).
'car'+'a'+'pace'='CARAPACE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for carapace that I've seen before include "soft top? Hardly" , "Hard outer covering of some animals" , "Crab's thick protective shield" , "Hard shell of tortoise, crab etc" , "Hard shell of some animals" .)