What is a 'post car' exactly?

[hatersaurusrex]

Hi guys - tried searching and couldn't get an answer, so:

I'm looking at a '69 Runner roller, and from the pics I can tell it's a post car - but what exactly were these cars? 
Was it a structural decision to make some cars 'post' and others 'non post'?
Was it a cost savings thing?  How common are post cars (runners and bees) compared to non-post cars?
What post-only parts are there?  i.e. rear trim panels, etc

From a quick Google image search it seems as though post cars are more common - but that could just mean the surviving cars that are photo-worthy are all post cars.

Any info on this?  I don't have a Galen Govier book sitting around.

[Aero426]

Post car is a 2 door coupe versus a 2 door hardtop.     The coupe (post car) is generally seen as a lower level (cheaper) trim.   Post Road Runners have the pop out real quarter glass compared to the full roll up and down of the hardtop.    The post probably adds some amount of structural rigidity to the body.  

[Aero426]

Coupe


Hardtop

[twodko]

A post car is usually a 2 door sedan whereas
a non-post car is a coupe.

Interesting that this isn't the case with runners
or bees.
Gotta love this forum for info like this.

[Cooter]

2dr sedan. Which is basically nothing but a 4dr body with two doors on it from factory.

[hatersaurusrex]

Can a post car be 'converted'?
Also, are there differences in the door sizes?

[Aero426]

Doors are the same.   I suppose you can remove the post at the spot welds and install the hardtop rear side glass.  The VIN is going to call out the car as a post RM21 or hardtop RM23.   

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Can a post car be 'converted'?
Also, are there differences in the door sizes?

Door glass would be different too. Probably more work than it is worth. Personally, I like "post" Road Runners & Coronets better.

[John_Kunkel]

Mopar usually refers to the 2-door post cars as a "club sedan". "Coupe" has different meanings with different manufacturers.

[The70RT]

I wonder if post cars helped with insurance hikes back then since on the title it would show sedan rather then coupe.

[Ghoste]

Why would you want to convert it?

[polywideblock]

don't the rear quarter windows only" pop out" on post cars ? 

[Ghoste]

On some.  There are others where the window is fixed and there are some with a regulator back there.

[Mike DC]

      
The bottom line is that the difference is a style/luxury option.  

The post cars were the baseline models.  Standard way to build a 2dr automobile.

The "hardtop" concept was to look more like a convertible with the top up (remember this was the height of the vinyl top era) so there would be no B-pillar.   It was popular at the time so they charged more for it.  The fact that the post cars were more structurally rigid was not on the average buyer's radar.  
   

[Ghoste]

Even off the radar for many drag racers, that post makes a difference structurally like you say but I guess you want to look cool too or we would all be into Coronet sedans.

[Ponch ®]

     
The bottom line is that the difference is a style/luxury option.  

The post cars were the baseline models.  Standard way to build a 2dr automobile.

The "hardtop" concept was to look more like a convertible with the top up (remember this was the height of the vinyl top era) so there would be no B-pillar.   It was popular at the time so they charged more for it.  The fact that the post cars were more structurally rigid was not on the average buyer's radar.  
   

so that's the big deal? I remember reading stuff on moparts all the time of guys talking about "my original post car this", or "its a post car that" as if it was some ultra rare/desirable thing.

[Charger-Bodie]

its very easy to convert to or from . Different side glass and drill a few welds that hod the divider(post) in and cut the slit in the upper door jamb for the roll up glass and viola. the inner panels are the same with all the bolt hole in place.

[hatersaurusrex]

Great info guys, and thanks!  That's why I love this site

As for why I'd want to consider converting it - the car is not for me.  My brother's dream Mopar is a '69 runner and I found a roller fairly cheap (for a Mopar, that is).  He's doing all the build work (for pennies on the dollar) on my '68 Charger and his birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks, so I was thinking of suprising him with his next project car as a thank-you.   I never really asked him if a post car was a dealbreaker, and he may want to convert it own his own if possible.  Sounds farily straightforward.  And unlike Chargers, there are craploads of stripped '68/'69 satellite/belvedere cars sitting around that can be had as parts cars for the stuff it's missing (like glass, etc).   I've already told him he can have the 383HP/727 out of my car when my Hemi goes in, so he's got a ready-made driveline - even if it's not correct.

Thanks again dudes!

[Mike DC]

   
I wonder if anyone has ever made themselves a Charger post-car. 


Not that I think it would be an improvement, or anything.  But the idea sounds just strange enough for somebody to have done it. 

[Ghoste]

It'd be his choice hatersuarusrex but I always think of the post Runners as the serious cars.  I know many of them were sold because it was cheaper but I like to imagine all the guys buying them were the street race crowd who wanted the stiffer chassis and some extra cash to spend on go faster parts.

[Mike DC]

It'd be his choice hatersuarusrex but I always think of the post Runners as the serious cars.  I know many of them were sold because it was cheaper but I like to imagine all the guys buying them were the street race crowd who wanted the stiffer chassis and some extra cash to spend on go faster parts. Cheesy

That's the biggest part of the appeal.  Same reason there is a market for radio blockoff plates.   

[kab69440]

   
I wonder if anyone has ever made themselves a Charger post-car. 


Not that I think it would be an improvement, or anything.  But the idea sounds just strange enough for somebody to have done it. 

I don't know that anyone has done it. I do know somebody who wants to do it. Finding a setup to buy is easier said than done.