Introduction
A coupé or coupe is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and generally two doors (although several four-door cars have also been marketed as coupés).
Coupé was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. The term coupé comes from the French translation of "cut".
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| The Ford Mustang as classic coupe. Courtesy of Autoblog.com |
Definition
A coupé is fixed-roof car with a sloping rear roofline and one or two rows of seats. However, there is often debate surrounding whether a coupe must have two doors or whether cars with four doors can also be considered coupés. This debate has arisen since the early 2000s, when four-door cars such as the Mazda RX-8 and Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class have been marketed as "four door coupés" or "quad coupés".
In the 1940s and 1950s, coupes were distinguished from sedans by their shorter roof area and sportier profile. Similarly, in more recent times, when a model is sold in both coupé and sedan body styles, generally the coupe is sportier and more compact.
The 1977 version of International Standard ISO 3833—Road vehicles - Types - Terms and definitions—defines a coupé as having two doors (along with a fixed roof, usually with limited rear volume, at least two seats in at least one row and at least two side windows). On the other hand, the United States Society of Automotive Engineers publication J1100[when?] does not specify the number of doors, instead defining a coupe as having a rear interior volume of less than 33 cu ft (934 L).
The definition of coupé started to blur when manufacturers began to produce cars with a 2+2 body style (which have a sleek, sloping roofline, two doors, and two functional seats up front, plus two tiny seats in back).
Some manufacturers also blur the definition of a coupé by applying this description to models featuring a hatchback or a rear door that opens upwards. Most often also featuring a fold-down back seat, the third door or hatchback layout of these cars improves their practicality and cargo room.
The early coupé automobile's passenger compartment followed in general conception the design of horse-drawn coupés, with the driver in the open at the front and an enclosure behind him for two passengers on one bench seat. The French variant for this word thus denoted a car with a small passenger compartment.
History
By the 1910s, the term had evolved to denote a two-door car with the driver and up to two passengers in an enclosure with a single bench seat. The coupé de ville, or coupé chauffeur, was an exception, retaining the open driver's section at front.
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| Ford Model B Deuce coupé courtesy of Wikipedia |
In 1916, the Society of Automobile Engineers suggested nomenclature for car bodies that included the following:
Coupe: An enclosed car operated from the inside with seats for two or three and sometimes a backward-facing fourth seat.
Coupelet: A small car seating two or three with a folding top and full height doors with fully retractable windows.
Convertible coupe: A roadster with a removable coupé roof.
During the 20th century, the term coupé was applied to various close-coupled cars (where the rear seat that is located further forward than usual and the front seat further back than usual).
Since the 1960s the term coupé has generally referred to a two-door car with a fixed roof.
Since 2005, several models with four doors have been marketed as "four-door coupés", however reactions are mixed about whether these models are actually sedans instead of coupés. According to Edmunds, an American automotive guide, "the four-door coupe category doesn't really exist."
Berlinetta
A berlinetta is a lightweight sporty two-door car, typically with two-seats but also including 2+2 cars.
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| Ferrari F12 Berlinetta . Courtesy of diariomotor.com |
3 door coupé
Particularly popular in Europe, many cars are designed with coupé styling but a 3-door hatchback layout to improve practicality, including cars such as the Alfa Romeo Brera, Ford/Mercury Cougar and Volkswagen Scirocco.
Business coupe
A two-door car with no rear seat or with a removable rear seat intended for travelling salespeople and other vendors carrying their wares with them. American manufacturers developed this style of coupe in the late 1930s.
Club coupé
A two-door car with a larger rear-seat passenger area, compared with the smaller rear-seat area in a 2+2 body style.
Combi coupé
Saab used the term combi coupé for a car body similar to the liftback.
Four-door coupé / Quad coupé
A four-door car with a coupé-like roofline at the rear. The low-roof design reduces back-seat passenger access and headroom. The designation was first used for the low-roof model of the 1962–1973 Rover P5, followed by the 1992–1996 Nissan Leopard / Infiniti J30. Recent examples include the 2005 Mercedes-Benz CLS, 2010 Audi A7 and 2012 BMW 6 Series Gran Coupé.
Similarly, several cars with one or two small rear doors and no B-pillar have been marketed as "quad coupés". For example 2003 Saturn Ion and 2003 Mazda RX-8.
Opéra coupé
A two-door designed for driving to the opera with easy access to the rear seats. Features sometimes included a folding front seat next to the driver or a compartment to store top hats.
Often they would have solid rear-quarter panels, with small, circular windows, to enable the occupants to see out without being seen. These opera windows were revived on many U.S. automobiles during the 1970s and early 1980s.[need quotation to verify]
Three-window coupé
The three-window coupé (commonly just "three-window") is a style of automobile characterized by two side windows and a backlight (rear window). Front windscreens don't count. The style was popular from the 1920s until the beginning of World War II. While many manufacturers produced three window coupés, the 1932 to 1936 Ford is a particular favorite of hot rodders. The three-window coupé has a distinct difference from the five-window coupé, which has an additional window on each side.
