Please define Hardtop,Sedan,Coupe as I tend to forget....

[Blakcharger440]

I am having brain freeze right now as I can not remember what is a Hardtop, Sedan or Coupe as I always seem to forget.
Could someone remind me of what these are?

I have always called them post models or non-post and tend to forget about the more technical definitions of them.

[ChargerHound69]

Hardtop is No post
Sedan is with post
Coupe is another style with post I believe. 

All I know for sure is the Hardtop had no posts

[adauto]

I forgot my post coupe sedan ahhhh ahhh.......DOH!

[moparsinbarns]

Are you kidding :haha:lol

Anyways,

Hardtop- No Post
Sedan- Post
Coupe- Another Post Style

[tttaziz]

A Coupe, at least in the 70s MoPar definition, would have just one operating window on each side.  For example, the 1972-1974 Charger Coupe (WL21 body code) which had fixed rear side windows.  The Charger Hardtops (WH23) of the same years had all four side windows that would go down.  Of course there were no Charger Sedans until the 21st Century....

[TheGhost]

A Coupe, at least in the 70s MoPar definition, would have just one operating window on each side.  For example, the 1972-1974 Charger Coupe (WL21 body code) which had fixed rear side windows.  The Charger Hardtops (WH23) of the same years had all four side windows that would go down.  Of course there were no Charger Sedans until the 21st Century....

So, would a Duster be a coupe or a hardtop?  The rear windows weren't fixed, but, they couldn't roll down.

[6670charger]

I believe a Duster would be a Coupe.  Coupes seem to be cars with a regular door window, and a much smaller back window (or none at all) that doesn't roll down at all.  Compare to a 30's era coupe.

[limey]

A coupe must have two doors and front seats and a trunk.
Technically that was it, but a modern coupe e.g



often has rear seats now, like a 2+2. - the fixed window thing is quite a defining feature.
Limey

[Charger_Fan]

Hard tops= 2-doors w/ no post
Coupes= 2-doors w/ post
Sedans= 4-doors
That's the way I understand it, anyway.


The problem is that sometime in the 60's, the manufacturers started calling cars like Chargers coupes & hard tops...when obviously they didn't add a post to make it a coupe. That's where the big misunderstanding started, IMO.

[tttaziz]

FWIW,
Chrysler considered the Duster/Demon body style a 2-Door Sport Coupe (body type 29) and the Scamp/Swinger a 2-Door Hardtop (body type 23).  The 73-74 Charger SE was also a body type 29 (it didn't have roll-down rear windows) but in most Dodge marketing materials it's considered a hardtop or specialty hardtop.  By 1975 Chrysler had a new body code, 22, for the Cordoba and Charger SE which was considered a specialty hardtop. 

A 2-Door Sedan, by Chrysler's definition, is a 2-door post car where front and rear side windows roll down (think a low-line 1966 Belvedere I or Fury I).  From 1968-1970 Chrysler low-line 2-door post B-bodies (Road Runners and Super Bees for example) were considered 2-Door Coupes, even though they had a pop-out rear side window.

[Brock Samson]

1. hardtop = http://www.huffreport.com/2005/iola/1958%20Dodge%20Hardtop.jpg

http://automotivemileposts.com/files/imp1964crown4doorblueclothleather.jpg

hardtops can be two or four doors, fourdoor hardtops are rare but they dont have a fixed pillar between the doors.


2. '55 Dodge Sedan = http://www.gatewayclassiccars.com/images/carthumbs/STL/2915/2915.jpg

Sedans can't be two doors, only four and they have a fixed pillar between the doors.


3. Coupe =  http://www.lhmopars.com/MOPAR_Ads/78spcpad.jpg
coupes are two doors and dont have opening (roll down) rear windows if any window at all.

[TheGhost]

Sedans= 4-doors

I thought that 2 door post cars were also called sedans?  At least, I've seen several automobile books refer to some Mopar 2 door sedans.

[tttaziz]

At least from 1960 through 1971, Chrysler Corporation designated two door post cars (with two operating side windows) as 2-Door Sedans.  For trivia, the last 2-Door Sedans MoPar offered were the 1971 Plymouth Fury I and Fury Custom.