Coupe vs. Sedan: Can You Trust The Doors? - A Comprehensive Guide to Classic and Modern Models Coupe or Sedan

If you were a car enthusiast who grew up through the 1960s to early 2000s, it is forgivable to accept the way we judged a coupe or sedan by its doors. The general rule was a coupe would have two doors while a sedan would possess four doors. With the introduction of the Maserati Quattroporte and Mazda RX-8 in 2003 and Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class in 2004 car buyers were delivered with the anomaly known as a four-door coupe. The Audi A5 and A7 Sportback, Volkswagen CC as well as the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe proliferated the fusion of sport and practical styling.

Distressingly, what makes a coupe different from a sedan has always left some level of interpretation exploited by automotive marketers and irritated some enthusiasts.

The Origins of Coupe and Sedan

The terminology for both coupe and sedan predate the existence of the car industry. The use of the word coupe was originally to describe a type of horse-drawn carriages in the 19th century. Derived from a French word for ‘cut’ or ‘to cut’, the carriage design for a coupe was defined by a four-wheeled with an enclosed fixed roof two-passenger cabin. The initial application for sedan dated as far back as the middle of the 17th century related to a form of wheelless transportation called a litter. A sedan chair would have a single occupant enclosed cabin carried by persons at the front and back.

Body designs through the infancy of the automobile took on many shapes with confusion for when the coupe and sedan would actually appear. The earliest recorded use to market a car as a sedan took place in 1912 by Studebaker (one of few horse-driven carriage companies that succeeded in a transition into an automobile manufacturer). The use of coupe with early automobiles also occurred in the 1910s as enclosed interiors began to dominate.

Was a Coupe Always a Coupe and a Sedan Always a Sedan?

Up until the early 1940s, the characteristic used to differentiate a sedan and coupe was seating. True to the 19th century carriage design, a coupe would typically feature a single seating row inside the cabin area while a sedan body type accommodated two rows of seating. Four doors appeared with sedans but two doors could also be a trait of the body style. When looking at cars of the 1920s and 1930s, a sedan could be spotted for having a longer, higher roof. During the 1930s, many automakers also sold coupes with a second seating row outside of the cabin known as rumble seats.

With the radical path of automotive design through the 1950s, the modern classification of body styles would be established but there were still a few remnants to the past. One such carryover was how sedans would not be exclusively four-door models. 1950s interiors for coupes often incorporate a second row of seating resulting in more practicality with the body style. Explore classic 1950s coupe interiors here.

Along with the popularity of the new coupe that emerged through the era, sedans in general were threatened. By the late 1950s, the sleeker roof line and removal of B-pillars were prevalent with four-door vehicles. Most automakers would simply refer to their cars as hardtops regardless of the door count. With focus on safer cars in the 1970s, B-pillars returned on sedans. Despite the addition of B-pillars, two-door fixed roof cars would almost exclusively be recognized as coupes from the mid-1970s to present day.

The Coupe/Sedan Debate in Modern Motoring

Long dominant body styles in automotive showroom, both the coupe and sedan body style have grown in scarcity with trends favoring sport utilities and crossover vehicles. Along with the before-mentioned appearance of the four-door coupe, the coupe name has been lent to crossover vehicles. The Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe and most recently the Genesis GV80 Coupe incorporate a more aggressively raked rear greenhouse area providing a sportier appearance.

For collectors and enthusiasts interested in classic coupe and sedan restoration, check out Chevrolet Bel Air parts or Ford Fairlane parts for authentic restoration materials.