Coupe vs Sedan

[TheIntrepid]

Availability and price play a large role in car shopping, especially when you have a family, a full time job, a house, etc.

True.

[TheIntrepid]

Anyway, sedan for me. I like the practicality.

[omicron]

The most glorious body style of all is the two-door pillarless hardtop, although the four-door pillarless hardtop is close behind.

[JYODER240]

Coupe, I won't be crawling in the back seat of my own car.

[ChrisV]

When there's a choice in a bodystyle, then sedans are what dad drives because he has to. I wish the E38 had been available as a 2 door...

[omicron]

Oh my goodness, Mr. V - that's achingly handsome.

[J86]

Sedan over coupe, but wagon over both!

[Raza]

When there's a choice in a bodystyle, then sedans are what dad drives because he has to. I wish the E38 had been available as a 2 door...

See, now that's a case of the coupe looking so much better that, to me, it's worth the drop in practicality.  But then again, I've always had a soft spot for large luxury coupes.  When it comes to smaller cars, coupes just don't have an advantage for me over the sedan.  I've already made a compromise by opting for something with a roof, so why pay more to make a practical decision less practical?

[ChrisV]

Most of my life the coupe was the sportier bodystyle, from the '50s to the '70s. Big or small.













The sedan was the boring version of the car.





Given the choice, the 2 door was always more desirable than the 4 door, especially for young guys looking to build hot rods and customs. That's the reason musclecars were primarily the 2 door variations. Practicality was for boring old men and women. Practicality did not equal pasion and desire. Practicality was for appliances.

That's why my project car, and the cars I lust after, are 2 doors, and the DD is a 4 door, but it's not a car I lust after. It's simply the best of a bad situation. Given the choice as a car for ME, it will always be a 2 door.

[Raza]

I think we're on the same page.  Although, for a car that is strictly fun, I wouldn't choose something that didn't have a roof that magically disappears. 

[ChrisV]

I think we're on the same page.  Although, for a car that is strictly fun, I wouldn't choose something that didn't have a roof that magically disappears. 

Which is why my project car is a 2 door convertible.

So given the choice within a bodystyle, it's convertible > 2 door coupe > 4 door sedan.

My favorite car is the 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso. I wish it was available as a convertible. That would be ideal as a dream car.

[omicron]

That '62 Impala four-door pillarless hardtop is just beautiful, Mr. V.

[Byteme]

I didn't vote becasue it depends on the vehicle. 

Four doors are soooo practical and most manufacturers make their foor door sedans look pretty attractive.Used to be manufacturers offered six or seven body styles:



2 door sedan.  two doors and a "B" pillar between the front and rear side glass.



4 door sedan.  Four doors with a "B" pillar between the front and rear doors and side glass.



2 door hardtop No "B" pillar.  The sealing surface between the front and rear side windows was attached to the front edge of the rear side window.


4 door hardtop.  Same as 2 door hardtop but 4 doors.


4 Door wagon.



Sometimes 2 door wagon.
No full size two door made by Chevy in 63

Convertible.



I really like the look of a two door hardtop.  Unfortunately I don't think anybody is making them today.

[Raza]

Wouldn't the CLK be a 2 door hardtop, considering it's pillarless?

[omicron]

Wouldn't the CLK be a 2 door hardtop, considering it's pillarless?

One could probably make an argument for either a hardtop or a coup?.

Just to confuse things, of course, you can have a two-door sedan, two-door pillared hardtop, two-door pillarless hardtop, two-door pillared coup?, two-door pillarless coup?.....plus any number of combinations of fastback, liftback, notchback, landau......

The distinction between a two-door hardtop and a two-door coup? is much harder to make these days, what with all these curved convertible roofs and such. Back in the good old days it was much easier. Sigh.

[Vinsanity]

Am I the only one who likes the 3-series coupe more than the sedan?

I'd take a coupe if I liked the styling enough to pay the extra money, or if it didn't cost that much more in the first place. But since coupes hold their value better on the used car market, I'm more likely to end up with a sedan.

[Raza]

Am I the only one who likes the 3-series coupe more than the sedan?

I'd take a coupe if I liked the styling enough to pay the extra money, or if it didn't cost that much more in the first place. But since coupes hold their value better on the used car market, I'm more likely to end up with a sedan.

No, I don't think you are. 

And don't take this as me being one of you freaks.

[Vinsanity]

No, I don't think you are. 

And don't take this as me being one of you freaks.

You're the freak. Freak.

[ChrisV]

Am I the only one who likes the 3-series coupe more than the sedan?

No, you're not. I prefer the new coupe, too. LOVE the proportions. To me the sedan is a BMW Corolla.

I wish the 8 series BMW had been in my price range when buying the E38.

[Raza]

No, you're not. I prefer the new coupe, too. LOVE the proportions. To me the sedan is a BMW Corolla.

I wish the 8 series BMW had been in my price range when buying the E38.

The coupe looks like a BMW Solara!

(If we're sticking to a theme.)

[ChrisV]

The coupe looks like a BMW Solara!

(If we're sticking to a theme.)

And I prefer the Solara to the Corolla. But, the rear of the BMW is cut back, not rounded off like the Solara.





I like the taut sweep of the BMW.

[Vinsanity]

No, you're not. I prefer the new coupe, too. LOVE the proportions. To me the sedan is a BMW Corolla.

Thank you! IIRC, the E90 came out the same year as the current Jetta, and at the time, it took me a while to tell which one was which from a distance at night. So to me, they're the BMW Jetta.

[Raza]

I don't like how the rear third of the car looks like it's 500 feet long.  It looks out of place on what is already not a special looking car. 


It just seems like there's too much car.

[Raza]

Thank you! IIRC, the E90 came out the same year as the current Jetta, and at the time, it took me a while to tell which one was which from a distance at night. So to me, they're the BMW Jetta.

The Jetta's the one that looks better.

[ChrisV]

I don't like how the rear third of the car looks like it's 500 feet long.  It looks out of place on what is already not a special looking car. 


It just seems like there's too much car.

The rear third looks like a coupe.. Especially a fastback. It's shorter than that fastback '65 Mustang you like...



And certainly shorter and stubbier than my Torino GT was:

[Raza]

Well, the answer to that is that the Torino is also ugly.



It's not the overhang or anything like that, though from some angles it can look like it goes on forever.  It's the visual perception (I look at it and all I see is an asshole....ha, ha, just kidding).  I mean, take the C5 Corvette as an example.  The "coupe" model looked great, but I was never a fan of the "hardtop" (or Z06) model's looks because there was too much car aft of the cabin. 

With this one, I just can't put my finger on it, but I just hate it.  But then again, I've never been a big fan of 3 series coupes, really, other than the E30.  I mean, I love the 1 series coupe.

Maybe it's the roofline.  I don't know. 

[ChrisV]

Well, the answer to that is that the Torino is also ugly.

hey, now! 

With this one, I just can't put my finger on it, but I just hate it.  But then again, I've never been a big fan of 3 series coupes, really, other than the E30.  I mean, I love the 1 series coupe.

Maybe it's the roofline.  I don't know. 

Fair enough. To me, it's the epitome of a modern coupe. The roofline sweeps properly to just behind the rear wheel, with just enough trunk to make it a 3 box instead of a pure fastback (like the '65 Mustang did. Hmmm.). It's cab forward, with a proportional nose length to decklid length. And it follows in the history of multiple marques designs. It's not that far off of the proportions of the ps'd E38 I posted, just smaller and more swept.

[CALL_911]

When there's a choice in a bodystyle, then sedans are what dad drives because he has to. I wish the E38 had been available as a 2 door...

That's exactly my uncle's car (4-door, of course).

[Eye of the Tiger]

When I was about 12-years-old, I hated anything with more than two doors. I also hated automatics, FWD, 4WD, AWD, tailpipes that were on the left side, instruments that weren't round, large steering wheel centers, low profile tires, all hubcaps, even numbers of lug nuts, light-bar grills on Mercurys, locking gas caps, tailight bars on Buicks, short shifters, anything that revved over 5,000rpm, Nissan, Toyota Celicas, orange interior lights, cloth upholstry, engines with Vee configurations, and hatchbacks.

[Cookie Monster]

I really wish the E92 had the same rear as the E90... That would've looked awesome.