Jump to content

2-Window, 3-Window, 5-Window? - what it the right name?

CHuDWah

By CHuDWah
in General Discussion

 Share

Recommended Posts

CHuDWah 5,000+ Points

CHuDWah

Posted
Posted

The "Attractive Sedan" thread got me thinking (yeah, too much quarantine time on my hands).  A coupe is a 5-window with quarter windows and a 3-window without.  But a sedan with quarter windows is a 3-window and a 2-window without??  🤣

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Walt G 25,000+ Points

Walt G

Posted
Posted

Franklin had a town sedan ( 1929-31) , which although looking like a club sedan had a larger rear quarter area and usually/ almost always  a padded top as well.

I go along with A.J. , blind rear quarter is a term that I have heard or used for decades.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
alsancle 25,000+ Points

alsancle

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Walt G said:

Franklin had a town sedan ( 1929-31) , which although looking like a club sedan had a larger rear quarter area and usually/ almost always  a padded top as well.

I go along with A.J. , blind rear quarter is a term that I have heard or used for decades.

 

So much for me taking credit.  😀

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Matt Harwood 25,000+ Points

Matt Harwood

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, alsancle said:

 

Matt,  all the years you have been in business you need me to teach you the lingo?   That is a 7-window "Special" coupe.

 

Cool. That means I have custom bodywork, does it not?

 

Joking aside, I do have an honest beef with BMW and Mercedes now calling some of their 4-door sedans "coupes" because they have slick rooflines. As if the terminology wasn't already confusing enough. Is there nothing the Germans can't make more complicated?

  • Like 2
  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
alsancle 25,000+ Points

alsancle

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Matt Harwood said:

 

Cool. That means I have custom bodywork, does it not?

 

Joking aside, I do have an honest beef with BMW and Mercedes now calling some of their 4-door sedans "coupes" because they have slick rooflines. As if the terminology wasn't already confusing enough. Is there nothing the Germans can't make more complicated?

 

Actually,  a little bit of an inside joke.   In MB land everyone knows what a "Special Roadster" is.  A car that brings 10,000,000 plus.   The auction companies started attaching the word "Special" to everything.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bryankazmer 5,000+ Points

bryankazmer

Posted
Posted

Marketing departments have a long history of blurring clarity.  I agree on the 4 door "coupes".  Just because it's not a box, it doesn't change the term sedan.  Likewise "all weather phaeton" for convertible sedan and now "roadster" for two seat convertible coupe with side windows.  "Limousine" for seven passenger sedan without divider.  Special prize to Mercedes for the "Phaeton." a sedan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Peter Gariepy changed the title to 2-Window, 3-Window, 5-Window? - what it the right name?
8E45E 25,000+ Points

8E45E

Posted
Posted

It depends on the make, year, and model of car one is referring to.

 

For example, when one states Cadillac "six window" hardtop, what comes to most people's minds are the '59-'60 models where two styles of four door hardtops were offered.

 

And if one wants a "23 window" VW, it refers to a 1951-'63 Type 2 Bus, or a "21 window" from 1964-'67.

 

And '30's Ford two-door coupe lovers have used the term '3-window' and '5-window' probably before I was born!!

 

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites
rodneybeauchamp 10,000+ Points

rodneybeauchamp

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

 

 

Joking aside, I do have an honest beef with BMW and Mercedes now calling some of their 4-door sedans "coupes" because they have slick rooflines. As if the terminology wasn't already confusing enough. Is there nothing the Germans can't make more complicated?


They should be called “Coops”.  I was unfortunate enough to be the back seat passenger in a late model small Mercedes four door. I struggled to get in and out of the $&##@ thing, and all the time felt very claustrophobic. High head rests, low roof line and cramped conditions. The driver was shorter than I am, but had his seat back a bit. And I am not tall either. Lucky it was only a short trip, but won’t do it again.

 

Perhaps car companies have lost the plot when designing a four passenger sedan. JMHO

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀
 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
8E45E 25,000+ Points

8E45E

Posted
Posted
22 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

I do have an honest beef with BMW and Mercedes now calling some of their 4-door sedans "coupes" because they have slick rooflines. As if the terminology wasn't already confusing enough. Is there nothing the Germans can't make more complicated?

The Mercedes Benz, BMW, and VW Passat 4-door coupes weren't the first examples.  I believe it was Rover with the P5 Coupe in 1966, which was a four door sedan with a cut down roof and thin door pillars. 

 

I believe a "coupe" in any case is where the rear seat room is less that 33 sq. feet, or thereabouts.

 

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Paul Dobbin 25,000+ Points

Paul Dobbin

Posted
Posted
On 9/23/2020 at 6:46 PM, CHuDWah said:

The "Attractive Sedan" thread got me thinking (yeah, too much quarantine time on my hands).  A coupe is a 5-window with quarter windows and a 3-window without.  But a sedan with quarter windows is a 3-window and a 2-window without??  🤣

  For Fords, it's Tudor & Fordor.  Never heard of a "2 or 3 window sedan"

Link to comment
Share on other sites
alsancle 25,000+ Points

alsancle

Posted
Posted
On 9/25/2020 at 11:45 AM, Matt Harwood said:

Lincoln's official name for my car was "2-Window Sedan."

 

142750206_Lincoln3.thumb.jpg.13fcca2e3f40f6552f267f7472c2a0a8.jpg

 

1935lincoln_009.thumb.jpg.33379e8c2da1eaa23b47a345264f8a3a.jpg

 

I just wish it looked as long and sleek as the drawing...

 

The lament of every guy that ever saw a period drawing of his car:   "Why couldn't they build it to look like that?"

 

I think the answer would probably be your head would pop through the roof.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
wayne sheldon 25,000+ Points

wayne sheldon

Posted
Posted

Linguistics is a fascinating subject to study! Colloquialisms. Why is it always colloquialisms? It is interesting how the favored terms can vary greatly over even short distances, and then change over just a few years. When I had the '25 Studebaker, we always called it a "coach". That was what the Studebaker expert said it was called. Forty years ago, nobody wanted to argue with that. Since that time, calling that body style a "coupe" has become more popular. No argument that there is historic precedence for it to be called a coupe. A few manufacturers back in the day called their cars of that particular style a coupe. However, "two-door sedan" or "coach" were much more common back when the cars of that era were new.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CHuDWah 5,000+ Points

CHuDWah

Posted
  • Author
Posted
On 9/24/2020 at 8:42 AM, Matt Harwood said:

What a 7-window coupe with four doors might look like:

 

When I was in high school, many decades ago, we joked about the mythical three-door coupe.  (Now watch someone post a picture of an actual one.)  🤣

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CHuDWah 5,000+ Points

CHuDWah

Posted
  • Author
Posted
On 9/25/2020 at 7:24 AM, 8E45E said:

I believe a "coupe" in any case is where the rear seat room is less that 33 sq. feet, or thereabouts.

 

A coupe has no rear seat.  😉

 

On 9/26/2020 at 9:59 AM, 8E45E said:

3-window:  Tudor Sedan. 

2-window: Sedan Delivery.

 

Umm, no.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...