I believe it's the past participle of couper, to cut. It was applied to a horse-drawn carriage of which the forward bay, ahead of the doors, had been "cut off", or rather built without. It was subsequently applied to rail carriage compartments which were shorter due to only having a single seat, instead of two facing each other. To make a literal coupé of a car c.1953 you'd slice out a door length or a bit less about the B-pillar, including four roughly half-doors and two sets of hinges, latches, handles, etc., slide the back part of the body forwards to meet up with the front, and then extend the deck and rear quarters to suit the original wheelbase, losing the rear door doglegs because they'd be superfluous and weird. The resulting proportions would be anyone's guess, but that's the principle. Applied to a '54 Olds: Make what you will of it. I reckon it starts to suggest a pickup truck, but not quite.
Really? So my '39 Chev isn't a "real coupe"? Chevrolet referred to them as Passenger Coupes, or in the case of my '39 a "Sport Coupe" because the back seats faced each other and bases folded up into the trunk divider.
Ford did the same thing in 40, but I don’t really consider the small sideways seats as a real back seat. This OP likes clickbait topics, and I don’t think he truly understands a lot of it. Just because he’s old doesn’t give him a pass.
Here, I always thought the difference between a coupe and a sedan was the coupe does not have a B pillar.
The problem with the Coupe debate is there is more than one standard on what a coupe is. The less than 33 cubic feet of space behind the front seat was a standard I was taught as a kid. Grandpa was an Engineer, But, there was the 2 door standard that was another standard being taught by some. The problem with Chevrolet is they introduced a marketing definition. What they call them is not what determines if I like them or not, but the symmetry and balance of the car is what reaches my level of like it or not.
Actually there is some interesting info here. We might not all agree but worth a read. I’ve learned over the years that there was some different models that kind of walked their own path. Standard Coupe, Deluxe Coupe, Business Coupe, Salesman Coupe….. you get the idea. Prefer we don’t attack each other for any disagreement. Just agree to disagree and every day is a good day.
Let's throw a wrench into the discussion, here's my 1952 Coupe Utility (official name designation), definitely no back seat or even storage area behind the front seat. Note how the front bed wall is angled to match the seat angle. Doors are same as 4-door sedan front doors. 1952 was the last year Chevy ute was built by Holden. Starting in 1953 Holden built their own model.
I agree corncob. I’ve always been somewhat confused as to what a coupe exactly is, mainly I think because the term is used freely. I’m also not sure what the difference is between a two door hard top and a 2 door sedan. The Corvette was mentioned,so if it has a hard top is it a coupe and with a soft top it’s a roadster? Thanks Dan
That’s an easy one. A “hard top” is a two or four door that has no door window frames showing when the windows are rolled down. You can swing your arm all the way through the opening from windshield to C pillar.
Thin skin? in ever post someone will disagree there is no need to take it personally! To be honest I didn't realize all the different body styles Chevrolet offered. HRP
I found somewhere (maybe incorrectly) that the '53 - '54 Plymouths didn't have a 2 door sedan and that the 2 doors made were just the club coupe body.
Throwing another 2 cents in the pot, the short description of the model and the measurements from the GM heritage center vehicle info kit. https://www.gm.com/content/dam/comp...information-kits/chevrolet/1953-Chevrolet.pdf
As far as I know, Holden started producing their own sedans in Australia in November 1948. I was called the 48-215, or affectionately known as the 'FX'. The first Australian manufactured ute was actually a 48-215 model and was released in January 1951.
Thank you So there are: Two door hard tops, two door sedans, four door hard tops, four door sedans, and coupes can be either a hard top, sedan or a roadster, is this right or am I completely FuBAR? Dan
where did you come up with that, if you don't know what happened....basically if you don't know, don't comment.... correct
you were going along good till you got to coupe....coupe are coupes and sedans are sedans and roadsters are roadsters... four door roadsters are tubs... phaetons
pecking order..2 door coupe, 2 door hard top 2 door sedan post 2 door sedan hardtop (no post) 4 door sedan hard top, four door sedan post
When it has a top..... There's too many definitions of "coupe" depending on brand, years, body styles, etc to pin it down. This argument comes up really, really often with never a correct answer. Or I should say with many correct answers. I've also seen the term "hardtop convertible" used when the first pillarless "coupes" came out like when Buick used to call a pillarless top a Riviera.
convertibles have door glass that rolls up and down and windshield posts that are part of the body. Roadsters do not have door glass (but can have snap in side curtains ) and have windshield posts that bolt on
Then it gets hairy when you go back to the '30's. They had convertible coupes and sedans. And cabriolets.
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