A coupé or coupe (from the French verb couper, to cut) is a car body style, the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Cars can come in a large variety of different body styles. Some are still in production while others are of historical interest only Coupés are often sporty variants of sedans (also known as saloons — see American and British English spelling differences) body styles, with doors commonly reduced from 4 to 2, and a close-coupled interior offering either two seats or 2+2 seating (space for two passengers in the front and two occasional passengers or children in the rear). American and British English spelling differences are one aspect of American and British English differences. The term 2+2 (pronounced "two plus two" is a phrase used to describe the configuration of a car with seating for two passengers in the front Before the days of motorized vehicles, the word referred to the front or after compartment of a Continental stagecoach. For other meanings see Stagecoach (disambiguation. A stagecoach (also called diligence) is a type of four-wheeled enclosed
Pronunciation
In Europe (including the United Kingdom), the original French spelling, coupé, and a French pronunciation (English koo-pay IPA: /kuːpeɪ/), are used. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The stress may be on either the first or second syllable; stressing the first syllable is the more Anglicized variant. Anglicisation or anglicization (see -ise vs -ize) is a process of conversion of verbal or written elements of any other language into a more comprehensible English Speakers of North American English pronounce coupe as "coop" (/kuːp/) and spell it without the acute accent. North American English is a collective term used for the varieties of the English language that are spoken in North America, namely in the United States History An early precursor of the acute accent was the apex, used in Latin inscriptions to mark long vowels. A very North American example of usage is the hot-rodders' term Deuce Coupe ("doose coop") used to refer to a 1932 Ford. See also Ford Model B (1904 Ford V8 redirects here For a list of Ford V8 engines see List of Ford engines#8 Cylinder.
History
In the 19th century a coupé was a closed four-wheel horse-drawn carriage, cut (coupé) to eliminate the forward, rear-facing passenger seats, with a single seat inside for two persons behind the driver, who sat on a box outside (see royal carriage illustration, right). A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people usually horse-drawn Commonly, a coupé had a fixed glass window in the front of the body, protected from road dirt by a high curving dashboard. A landau is a coupé with a folding top. Landau, when used in referencing an Automobile, generally means a simulated Convertible.
Through the 1950s opening-roof convertible automobiles were sometimes called convertible coupés, but since the 1960s the term coupé has generally been applied exclusively to fixed-roof models. A convertible is a type of automobile in which the vehicle's roof can retract and fold away converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle Coupés generally, but not necessarily, have two doors, although automobile makers have offered four-door coupés and three- and five-door hatchback coupés, as well. Hatchback is a term designating an Automobile design containing a passenger cabin with an integrated Cargo space accessed from behind the vehicle by a single Modern coupés often have the styling feature of frameless doors, with the window glass sealing directly against a weather-strip on the main body.
The SAE distinguishes a coupé from a sedan primarily by interior volume; SAE standard J1100 defines a coupé as a fixed-roof automobile with less than 33 cubic feet (0. SAE International (SAE is a professional organization for mobility engineering professionals in the Aerospace, Automotive, and commercial Vehicle industries The volume of any solid plasma vacuum or theoretical object is how much three- Dimensional space it occupies often quantified numerically The cubic foot is an imperial and US customary (non- metric) unit of Volume, used in the United States Canada and the United Kingdom 93 cubic meters) of rear interior volume. CM3 redirects here If you were looking for the 3rd game in the Cooking Mama series abbreviated as CM3 see here. A car with a greater interior volume is technically a two-door sedan, not a coupé, even if it has only two doors. By this standard, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, and Mercedes-Benz CL-Class coupés are all two-door sedans. The Chevrolet Monte Carlo was an American-made automobile Originally introduced by Chevrolet for the 1970 model year (as competition with the Ford Thunderbird Ferrari SpA is an Italian Sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti (skal-yeti is a Gran Turismo car produced by Ferrari since 2004 The Mercedes-Benz CL-Class is a full-sized Grand tourer produced by the German Automaker Mercedes-Benz, which stands for Comfort Only a few sources, however (including the magazine Car and Driver), use the two-door sedan label in this manner. Car and Driver is an American automotive enthusiast Magazine. Some car manufacturers may nonetheless choose to use the word coupé (or coupe) to describe such a model, e. g. , the Cadillac Coupe de Ville. See also Cadillac DeVille. The Coupe deVille (sometimes spelled Coupe Deville or Coupe DeVille was a model of Cadillac from 1949 through
Alternatively, a coupé is distinguished from a two-door sedan by the lack of a "B" pillar to support the roof. Sedans have an "A" pillar forward at the windscreen, a "B" pillar aft of the door, and a "C" pillar defining the aftermost roof support at the rear window. Thus with all side-windows down, a coupé would appear windowless from the "A" to the "C" pillars. These fixed-roof models are described as a hardtop. A hardtop is a term for a rigid rather than canvas Automobile roof Targa top models are a variation on the convertible design. Targa top, targa for short is a semi- Convertible Car body style with a removable roof section and a full width Roll bar behind the seats A convertible is a type of automobile in which the vehicle's roof can retract and fold away converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle
During the 20th century the term was applied to various close-coupled automobiles. Through the 1950s many automakers offered several varieties of coupé, including:
- Club coupé
- a coupé with a larger rear seat, which would today be called a two-door sedan.
- Business coupé
- a coupé with no rear seat or a removable rear seat intended for traveling salespeople and other vendors who would be carrying their wares with them.
- Opéra coupé
- a coupé with rear seats that are mounted in the sides of the body and fold downward for use.
- Sports coupé or berlinetta
- a uniquely styled model with a sloping roof, sometimes sloping downward gradually in the rear in the style known as fastback. A fastback is a Car body style whose roofline slopes continuously down at the back
- Four-door coupé
- a sedan with classic coupé-like proportions. The designation was first applied to a low-roof model of the Rover P5 from 1962 until 1973, but was revived as recently as 2004 by the Mercedes-Benz CLS. Mark I The P5 appeared in 1958 Powered by a 30 L (2995 cc/182 in³ it quickly became known as the "3-Litre" The Mercedes-Benz CLS is a luxury car series of Automobile models assembled by Daimler AG in Sindelfingen, Germany and Mercedes-Benz-Valdez
- Combi coupé
- a body type from SAAB combining the coupé lines with large loading capacity. Combi coupé is a Marketing term used by Swedish manufacturer Saab for a Car body style similar to the Liftback.
- Sport utility coupe
- an SUV with 2 doors and shortened wheelbase and body. A sport utility vehicle ( SUV) is a generic marketing description for a rugged automotive vehicle similar to a Station wagon but built on a light-truck chassis
With the growing popularity of the pillarless hardtop during the 1950s some automakers used the term coupé to refer to hardtop (rigid, rather than canvas, automobile roof) models and reserved the term sedan for their models with a "B" pillar. A hardtop is a term for a rigid rather than canvas Automobile roof This definition was by no means universal, and has largely fallen out of use with near-demise of the hardtop. Similarly, a Rover P5 saloon model came in a body style with a lower roof that was called a coupé. Mark I The P5 appeared in 1958 Powered by a 30 L (2995 cc/182 in³ it quickly became known as the "3-Litre" Technically, it was cut, as the original definition required, but it was not a shorter car body.
Today "coupé" is becoming more of a marketing term for automotive manufacturers, ascribing the term to any vehicle with two or three doors, and luxury plus sporting appeal. In popular usage "marketing" is the promotion of products especially Advertising and Branding However in professional usage the term has a wider meaning of