Coupe or Sedan or ???

[lee]

So what is the SVX?

[SVXer95]

I always thought that 2 door= coupe, 4door= sedan.

[immortal_suby]

2 door touring coupe

[lee]

Originally posted by SVXer95
I always thought that 2 door= coupe, 4door= sedan.

I kinda did too, but then I saw a definition that included 2-dr sedans with the difference being if the window was framed in with metal, i.e., raw glass at the top of the opening is a coupe.

[SVXer95]

interesting....

Where did you see that?

[UberRoo]

From:

http://www.srodictionary.com/index.htm

"coupe:
An enclosed single-compartment body with two doors and varying passenger capacity depending on seat arrangements. The SAE standard J1100 defines it as having less than 33 cubic feet (934 liters) of interior volume. Larger coupes have rear quarter windows. Coupes have fixed permanent back panels and top, as well as a luggage compartment in the rear deck. Originally it meant a vehicle which was "cut" (thus the French "coupé") by a glass partition behind the front seats so that the driver was exposed to the air while those in the back were enclosed.

sedan:
The term sedan originally described a conveyance seen only in movies today: a wheelless vehicle for one person, borne on poles by two men, one ahead and one behind. Automakers borrowed the word and applied it to cars with an enclosed four-door body type, permanent back panels, and top with full-width cross seats front and rear, and passenger capacity from five to seven depending on wheelbase. Longer-wheelbase models accept extra passengers in fold-down auxiliary seats. Sedans usually have quarter windows in the rear quarter in addition to windows in all four doors. Trunk racks often were standard offerings. Called saloon in U.K. According to Car and Driver, the term "sedan" refers to a fixed-roof car with at least four doors or any fixed-roof two-door car with at least 33 cubic feet (934 liters) of rear interior volume, according to measurements based on SAE standard J1100."

Generally speaking:
Coupe = Two doors.
Sedan = Four doors.

Ummmm.....yeah. This reminds me of the guy who tried to convince me his Legacy Outback wagon was not a wagon, it was a "four door hatchback". Apparently he thought "wagon" was too dorky sounding.

I've never heard anyone call a two door car a sedan. Sorry.



Dave

[SVXer95]

Originally posted by UberRoo
From:

http://www.srodictionary.com/index.htm

"coupe:
An enclosed single-compartment body with two doors and varying passenger capacity depending on seat arrangements. The SAE standard J1100 defines it as having less than 33 cubic feet (934 liters) of interior volume. Larger coupes have rear quarter windows. Coupes have fixed permanent back panels and top, as well as a luggage compartment in the rear deck. Originally it meant a vehicle which was "cut" (thus the French "coupé") by a glass partition behind the front seats so that the driver was exposed to the air while those in the back were enclosed.

sedan:
The term sedan originally described a conveyance seen only in movies today: a wheelless vehicle for one person, borne on poles by two men, one ahead and one behind. Automakers borrowed the word and applied it to cars with an enclosed four-door body type, permanent back panels, and top with full-width cross seats front and rear, and passenger capacity from five to seven depending on wheelbase. Longer-wheelbase models accept extra passengers in fold-down auxiliary seats. Sedans usually have quarter windows in the rear quarter in addition to windows in all four doors. Trunk racks often were standard offerings. Called saloon in U.K. According to Car and Driver, the term "sedan" refers to a fixed-roof car with at least four doors or any fixed-roof two-door car with at least 33 cubic feet (934 liters) of rear interior volume, according to measurements based on SAE standard J1100."

Generally speaking:
Coupe = Two doors.
Sedan = Four doors.

The SVX has more than 33 cu ft of interior volume. 84.9 to be exact. So....by the SAE standard, it IS NOT a coupe, its a SEDAN

[nubs]

Originally posted by lee


I kinda did too, but then I saw a definition that included 2-dr sedans with the difference being if the window was framed in with metal, i.e., raw glass at the top of the opening is a coupe.

Back in the day there were a lot of cars that had frameless windows, including many 4 door sedans. They called them hardtops.Here is an Example

[Chiketkd]

2 door coupe!

-Chike

[Ron Mummert]

Originally posted by nubs


Back in the day there were a lot of cars that had frameless windows, including many 4 door sedans. They called them hardtops.Here is an Example

The term came from the elimination of a fixed door pillar on both two & four door cars to give the appearance of a convertible with the windows down, thus the style was called a "hardtop convertible", shortened to just "hardtop". Trivia questions:
1. Who built the first massed produced 2 door "hardtop" & when?
2. Who first built a 4 door "hardtop" station wagon & when?

Ron (prefers hard bottoms).

[Ron Mummert]

Trunk racks often were standard offerings. Called saloon in U.K. According to Car and Driver, the term "sedan" refers to a fixed-roof car with at least four doors or any fixed-roof two-door car with at least 33 cubic feet (934 liters) of rear interior volume, according to measurements based on SAE standard J1100."

Generally speaking:
Coupe = Two doors.
Sedan = Four doors. [/B][/QUOTE]



Saloon = Four Dewars.

Ron (twist 'o lime, please).

[Chiketkd]

I'll take a crack at the first question...

By "hardtop" I'm assuming by your definition you mean a hardtop convertible. The first was the '57 Ford Skyliner.

-Chike

Originally posted by Ron Mummert
Trivia questions:
1. Who built the first massed produced 2 door "hardtop" & when?

[UberRoo]

Originally posted by SVXer95


The SVX has more than 33 cu ft of interior volume. 84.9 to be exact. So....by the SAE standard, it IS NOT a coupe, its a SEDAN

Yeah. I wondered about that definition. 33 cubic feet is barely over a cubic yard, or about the size of a cube 3.2 feet on a side. 84.9 cubic feet is about the size of a cube 4.4 feet on a side. The SVX is definitely not in the small car category, so the "small sports car" definition doesn't really apply. However, I still think the general consensus is that having only two doors makes it a coupe. Besides, that's what it says on the title and insurance papers, and for most of us that's what really counts.

[Ron Mummert]

I've never heard anyone call a two door car a sedan. Sorry.



You may have to go back five or six decades, or more, but I remember a number of Detroit products that offered a two-door sedan, which was usually built on the same wheelbase, & offered the same leg room in the back seat as the four-door version. I think they were popular with families that had a fear of launching the kids through a malfunctioning door while carving "The Dragon". A "coupe" in those days may have had a shorter wheelbase, a smaller rear seat & a larger trunk. I remember the "business coupe" of the '40s that had no back seat & a huge trunk, designed for the Fuller Brush & Kirby Vac salesman of the day. I remember Colonel Harlan Saunders and his famous Chicken Coupe. Yup...had a 4 speed drumstick tranny...but I'll save that story for the saloon.

Ron (clucking off again).