The Difference Between Various Car Styles

You probably know the difference between a station wagon and a hatchback, right? Well, how about an areaulet and a brougham? Mm-hmm, yeah, didn't think so.

In today's episode, we're taking a look at all the different car styles out there, big boys, small boys, pointy boys, everything in between. We're gonna give you the tools to identify different body styles, examine how they've evolved over time and get to the bottom of why they're called what they're called.

We're gonna keep this video to passenger vehicles, okay, because commercial vehicles, motorcycles, vans and trucks can be their own episodes entirely. But today, it's all about cars.

I wanna give a huge thanks to Keeps for sponsoring this episode of [insert sponsor].

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- You probably know thedifference between a station wagonand a hatchback, right?Well, how about alandaulet and a brougham?Mm-hmm, yeah, didn't think so.In today's episode, we're taking a lookat all the different car styles out there,big boys, small boys, pointyboys, everything in between.We're gonna give you the tools to identifydifferent body styles, examinehow they've evolved over timeand get to the bottomof why they're calledwhat they're called.We're gonna keep this videoto passenger vehicles, okay,because commercial vehicles, motorcycles,vans and trucks can betheir own episodes entirely.But today, it's all about cars.I wanna give a huge thanks to Keepsfor sponsoring thisepisode of "WheelHouse".No one really talksabout it, but it's a factthat two out of three guys will experiencesome form of male patternbaldness by the time they're 35.I have what my mom hasdescribed as wonderfully thickand beautiful hair, but who knowshow long these lusciouslocks are gonna last.I'm actually kind of nervous.When it comes to hairloss, prevention is key.And now thanks to Keeps, Ican maintain all the hairI already have and prevent hair losswithout even going to the doctor.I can just visit a doctor online.They prescribe hair lossprevention medication,and it's delivered right tomy doorstep every three monthsand Keeps is super affordable too.They offer the only two FDA-approvedgeneric hair loss products out there.You may have tried them before but neverat this low of a price.If you're ready to take actionand prevent hair loss today,head on over to keeps.com/wheelhouse50or click the link in the descriptionto receive 50% off your first order.That's K-E-E-P-S.com/wheelhouseand the number 50.Thank you keeps.Support the companies that support Donutand take care of your hair.Now back to the show.Okay, so let's dive in with the car stylemost people are familiar with, the sedan.The main features of aconventional sedan are four doors,a three box configuration, a closed body,meaning a fixed roof and the abilityto comfortably seatfour or five passengersbetween two rows.Sedans get their name fromthis cool ass way to rollinto a party.Wheelless human-powered contraptionshave been around forever,and they're called somethingdifferent all over the world.But in Britain, in the 1630s,a sophisticated versionemerged called a sedan chairor just a sedan.Some people think sedans werenamed after the French townof Sedan, but most ofmy entomologist homeysthink it's simply derivedfrom the Italian verb sedere,meaning to sit.There are differing opinionsabout who first usedthe word sedan in reference to a car body.Some credit it to theStudebaker Four and Six models,which were marketed as sedans in 1912.Others attribute it to Speedwell,a short-lived auto manufacturerbased in Dayton, Ohio,who in 1911 used sedan todescribe their new closed-body,two-door car.Sedans are some of themost recognizable carsof the modern age.Sedans are so ubiquitousthat before Australia andNew Zealand adopted the term,they simply called sedans, cars.This brings me to ournext car style, the coupe,♪ Coupe ♪Or the coupe or dependingon how you pronounce it.I say coupe because I'ma red-blooded American,I can't say words like tutorand because coupe soundslike a toupee for your carand that just makes me,that makes me itchy.It gives me hives just thinking about it.Like sedans, coupes have a fixed roofand a three box configurationbut are sportierand more compact withtwo doors and a slopingor truncated rear roofline.Like a lot of car terms,the word coupe comesfrom our horse-drawncarriage predecessors,stemming from the Frenchverb coupe meaning to cut,a coupe was a type of clippedcarriage that seated twoinstead of four with its rearfacing seats, essentially,cut off hence the name.The coupe body style has also given wayto many variations as it's evolved.The sportiest of the already sporty coupesis the berlinetta, introduced in the 1930sand popularized by Ferrari in the 1950s.On the other end of thespectrum is the business coupe,which had massive trunkspace in lieu of a backseat.They became super popularwith traveling salesmen.Everyone knows the deuce coupe.And who could forget the cozy coupe.Sedans and coupes may seem very different.So how is the line betweenthem gone so blurred?Well, you can thank carmakersfor getting willy freakin nillywith their naming conventionsin the second halfof the 20th century.The confusion started oncemanufacturers released coupeswith a two and two body style.That is two proper seats upfront with two tiny little seatsin the back.Then in the early 2000s,carmakers were like,oh, this whole two and two thing,not confusing enough for you.Well check out these new four door carsthat we're gonna callcoupes because we love chaosand nothing matters.Mercedes had their CLSclass, Mazda had their RX8with the suicide doors on the back.These quad coupes are at theheart of an age old debate:can you have a four doorcoupe and a two door sedanor does it defeat the purposeof terms all together?You know what I'm gonna say?I'm gonna say Yeah, it does.Why use words if you're gonnatake away their meaning.That's messed up.I'm looking at you, BMW.Let's take a look atthe four-doored BMW X6.With its sleek roofline, youcan see why it's marketedas a sports activity coupe.But that car is as muchof a coupe as Dr. Philis a real doctor.Yeah, he's not a doctor.Let's move on to the station wagon,also known as an estate car.Unlike the three box designof the sedan and the coupe,station wagons have a longbody to two box configuration.This means its passengers and cargo areasare in one joined cabin withthe rear tailgate hingedto allow for easy access toall that junk in the trunk.The names station wagonand a state car harken backto these vehicles originaluses in the early 1900swhich was to transporttravelers and their luggagebetween railway stationsand country estates.So station wagons actuallybegan as commercial vehiclesbefore making their way intosuburban life, fancy that!These first generation station wagonsare a great example of early custom workbecause it's not like youcould just purchase oneoff the lot in 1910.Cab drivers with Ford Model Tslooking from our cargo spacewould have independent coach buildersproduce custom wooden bodiesfor their existing chassis.These converted wood-bodiedModel Ts were known as Woodys.Eventually, carmakers gotwise and started makingtheir own station wagons.The first one assembled on amanufacturer's production linewas the 1923 Star FourModel C station wagon,pretty dang cute, right?As time went on, manufacturersimproved upon wooden bodiesand replaced them with steel.The 1935 Chevy Suburbanwas the first all-steelstation wagon body and by the early 50s,most other companieschurning out station wagonshad followed suit.Station wagon and estate modelssold well in the 60s and 70sbut were eventually eclipsedby other family-style carsin the 80s and 90s like the minivanand a crossover SUV.Related to the station wagonis one of my personalfavorites, the shooting-brake.Now all my carriage heads out therewill know that ashooting-brake was originallya horse-drawn wagon used tocart around shooting partiesalong with all their guns and ammoand, I imagine, alcohol.This is back in the1890s but shooting-brakeseventually came to mean a body stylethat combines the stationwagon and the coupe.This was especiallyprevalent in the 60s and 70s.Companies offered these kind of two-doorelongated sport coupeslike the 65 Aston MartinDB5 shooting-brake.Other companies offeredthe same body stylebut didn't call it a shooting-brakelike the Reliance Scimitar GTEwhich sounds like a car from GTA.This style of car disappeared for a whilebut made a come back in the 2000s.One of the coolest and weirdest lookingof the bunch was nicknamed the clown shoe,it is the BMW Z3 M Coupe.And you can see why.Challenging the conventional definition,the later 2012 Mercedes BenzCLS class shooting-brakehad four doors instead of two.Oh, and the more recent shooting-brakes,the 2018 Porsche Panamera, Sport Turismoand Ferrari's first productionfour-wheel-drive model,the FF.People go ape (beeps) forthe FF, myself included,also the the PanameraTurismo and that Mercedesjust call them wagons, guys, come on.It's nearly impossible totalk about station wagonswithout bringing up the hatchback,named for its hatch typerear door that opens upwards.Lots of early hatchbackswere actually marketedas small station wagons likeBMC's 1959, countryman versionof the Austin A40 Farina,predecessor to one of themost iconic hot hatchesin history, the Renault 5 Turbo.The hatchback design actuallydates back to the 1930swith the Citroen 11 CV Commerciale,but the term hatchbackdidn't appear until the 70swhen the cars really took offas popular small utilitarianvehicles, especially in Europe.Maybe the most well knownhatchback is the Volkswagen Golfdesigned by the juggernautgenius, Giorgetto Giugiaro,who, in 1999, was named cardesigner of the century.The Mark I Golf hit the scene in 1974as VW's next big thing since the Beetle.before long, it becamestandard for car companiesto release hatchback versionsof the most popular models.The hatch door style has even made its wayinto luxury vehicles likethe BMW 5 Series Gran Turismoand the Audi A7.If you've ever heard a hatchback referredto as a three door or a five door,it's because the hatch isconsidered its own doorin addition to the two orfour existing passenger doors,makes sense.That being said, what we see nowadaysare more often the five-door versions,especially in the US.We just don't like smallcars for some reason,even though our cities are quite packedand parking is a nightmare.Okay, big stretch now.(bones cracking)Because we're about to talk limos,the luxurious lengthy limousineis popular with presidents,celebrities and hornyteenagers going to prom.It's driven by achauffeur with a partitionbetween the driver and thepassenger compartments.Limos and stretch limosare made by convertingthe bodies of existing models.In the US, the most commonconversions are carslike the Town Car, theNavigator, the Cadillac STSand the Escalade, the Chrysler300 and the Hummer H2.Entrepreneurial car nutshave even converted semisinto the biggest functionallimos in the world.But the longest limoof all time would haveto be the 100-foot-long,26-wheeled American Dream.Just look at this honker.Now look again, and this time,notice that there's a freakinhelicopter on the back of it.It was created in 1992by this dude Jay Ohrberg,who is known for buildingmovie cars like the DeLoreanin "Back to the Future"and the American Dreamwas both awe-inspiring andcompletely impractical.It was virtually undriveableand eventually fellinto disrepair but not before garneringthe Guinness Book of World Records titleof world's longest car.Well done, Jay.Like coupe, the wordlimousine is all wrapped upin carriage culture.It originally comes from the nameof the French region Limousin,where the shepherds wore adistinctive type of cloakwith a raised hood.The roof that extendedover the driver's seaton early limousines resembled that hood,which is how it's got its name.Originally, limos withouta hood over the driverwere called broughams.Cadillac was the first to makea motorized brougham in 1916.But like most cars in this video,the meaning of brougham haschanged since the early days.Take the classic CadillacBrougham land boat in the 1970s,a perfect example ofbrougham being used on a carthat doesn't actuallyfeature this driver-exposed,passenger-enclosed body stylethat brougham actually means.In the 1970s, 80s and 90s, carcompanies would use broughamto specify an upper trimlevel of a particular model.Chrysler did it with its New Yorker,Ford did it with its Ford Torino.So when it comes to car styles,the name brougham can be a little tricky,but here's one that couldn'tbe any more straightforward,the microcar!It's a car that's micro.These tiny vehicles havelittle baby engines,generally 700 cubiccentimeters or smaller,many of which were originallydesigned for motorcycles.It's for that reasonthat many early microcarsdidn't even have thecapability to go backwards.Microcars can either befour-wheeled like the BMW Isettaor three-wheeled like themicroest of the micro,the Peel P50.- Oh my God.- Microcars cropped up after World War II,initially in Germany and the UKas an alternative to the motorcyclewith better weather protection.One of the first to appearwas the 1949 Bond Minicar.This looks like somethingyou'd buy your rich ass kid.It only weighs about 300pounds, used a mere 50cc engine.One of the rarest micro carsis the 1950s egg-shaped,Brutsch Mopetta, Mopetta, baby.Only 14 of these things were ever producedand just five of them remain todaybut when the Mini bustedon the scene in 1959,microcar customers tradedin their one seatersfor these roomier, more powerful vehiclesthat were still small and affordable.In the 90s however,microcars made a little bitof a comeback with theitty bitty Smart ForTwo.Another styling variationthat can dramatically affectthe overall look of a car is the fastback.A fastback has a singleunbroken slope from the roofto the rear bumper thatmakes the car more sleekand aerodynamic.The precursor to modern day fastbacksare the teardrop shaped cars in the 1930sand by the early 40s, youcan get a fastback body stylefrom nearly every domestic manufacturer.Fastbacks are usuallycoupes but can be sedans,like the old VW Bugs,an early fastbackexample is this stunning,Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic,an extremely rare car,there's only a few of them in the world.One of them changed handsin 2010 for $40 million.Later fastbacks includethe classic 67 Mustanglike the Bullitt Mustang, theMark I Plymouth Barracuda.The Kia Stinger is a fastbackand of course the Porsche 911,which has continuously maintainedits fastback appearancefrom its debut in 1963 totoday, very impressive.Fastbacks can get confused with notchbacksbut the term notchback actually impliesa horizontal trunk lid.It's usually reserved for distinguishingfrom fastback models of the same car,like in 1970s, there's a ChevyVega, which came in both.Then there's the kammbackalso known as the kanmtailor K-tail.This automotive styling feature evolvedout of an early need foraerodynamic improvement on cars.A kammback slopes downward like a fastbackbut then abruptly cuts vertically down.It's like a fastbackwith the butt cut off.Most common kammback out therehas to be the Toyota Priusbut the coolest is probablythe Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe,the design developed and namedafter German aerodynamicistWunibald Kamm in the 1930swas found to minimize drag,reduce fuel consumptionand provide more vehiclestability at higher speeds.It was adding a kammback to the racecarthat finally allowed Ford tosurpass Ferrari at Le Mans.Notable kammbacks since theninclude the Ferrari 250 GTOof the 60s, the Datsun240Z and technically,Tesla's latest Model Y.You know that car bodythat's narrow at the centerwith a rounded front endand voluptuous back end,I'm not talking about the peanut mobile.I'm talking about whatyou'd wash that big,rock-hard peanut down with,a refreshing bottle of Coke.Coke bottle styling caneither be accomplishedby pinching the waist of a caror adding more pronounced curvesover the front and back wheel arches.Unlike other styles basedon horse-drawn carriages,the Coke bottle design wasinspired by aeronauticsand the pinch wastedfuselage of supersonic jets.The styling was named for its resemblanceto a classic contoured Cokebottles laying on its side.It's not a far stretch actually,seeing as both thebottle and the car stylewere developed by industrialdesign legend Raymond Lowey,like I knew it was similarbut I didn't realize the same guy.The man designed everythingfrom cars to toasters,to stamps, to jukeboxes, to coffee shopsto airplane interiors.That's called range, people.He introduced the stylishnew Coke bottle body in 1962on the Studebaker Avanti Gran Turismo.Chevy followed a year laterwith its 63 Corvette Stingrayand dramatized the stylingin their 68 Corvette.It got even more widespread in the 70sas Nissan, Mitsubishi and Toyotaoffered Coke bottle stylingon multiple models.A more recent exampleis the Dodge Challenger,which is also one of thefirst Coke bottle style carsback in the 70s.And frankly, my favorites.I'm so glad they keptit for the current one.A whole different classof cars are convertibles.If I've learned onething about convertiblesit's that you've gotto keep some sunscreenin the glove box.If I've learned twothings about convertibles,it's that there are somany different namesfor convertibles.First, let's get the basics down.A convertible is a car with a roofthat can be folded down or removed.Most are two door modelsalthough four door convertibles do exist.You can get a hardtop convertiblewhose retractable roofis made of steel, aluminum or plasticor a soft top made ofmaterials like vinyl or canvas,the age old question is though,what's the difference betweena convertible and a cabriolet?And honestly, it's not much.Cabriolet is essentiallyjust a European termfor convertible.It comes from the name of, you guessed it,an old carriage which hada top that can be pulled upor left down depending on the weather,but both terms can be used interchangeablyand only nerds will get mad about it.(screaming)You know what to settle, once and for all,let's just call themconvert-briolets, okay?Rolls right off the tongue.Then you have the roadster,also known as a spideror spyder with a y, which ispretty much the same thingas a convertible/cabriolet,just fancier sounding.Technically, a true roadster has two seatsand no weather protection, whatsoever.The terms roadster and spidercan be used interchangeablybut they have very different origins.Roadster comes from an old American termfor a good traveling horse, partner!Spyder with a y, on the other hand,gets its name from, don't worry, it's not,actually, yes, it is acarriage from the 1800sand it looked very spidery.This two-door carriage perched highon some abnormally large wheelswas also called a phaeton.It was faster and more dangerousthan others at the timeand therefore used more forsport than actual travel.Modern day roadsters havekept alive this emphasison sportiness and style oversafety and functionality.Many original roadsters andspiders eventually evolvedto have a roof and window options,which led to the terms roadster, spyder,convertible and cabrio, allkind of meshing togetherand then the fact that spideris spelled with an I and a Yjust adds to the confusion.A good rule of thumbto keep those straightis that if a car is Italian,it's almost always spelled with an Iand that's because Italiansdon't have the letter Yin their alphabet.Cool.Another class of open-toptwo seat sports carsis the barchetta.See how it kind of lookslike a skiff or a speedboat.Unsurprising, since barchettais Italian for little boat.A barchetta is like aroadster in that it's compactand truly topless butinstead of a full windshield,it has a short transparent wind deflector,which I know sounds like thesame thing as a windshield,but it's not.There's already a lotof convertible S carsand we haven't even gottento the semi convertibles yet,like the landaulet.With a name like that, you best believeit used to be a carriage.Opposite from the brougham though,where the driver was exposedand the passengers covered,a landaulet, has a fixed roofover the driver's portion,but an adjustable convertible topover the back for the passengers.They often have a partitionthat separates the driverfrom the passengers, similar to limousinesbut these guys really never became popularas a daily vehicle.These were the kind ofcars that political figureswould use at political processions,but that didn't really lastdue to security concerns.A way cooler and moreprevalent semi convertibleis the targa top.It's like a convertible coupe.The back portion of the roof is fixedbut there's a removableor collapsible panelover the front seats.Even though it wasn't the first carto have removable roof panels,the 1966 Porsche 911 Targapopularized the style.It was named for the Targa Florio,a Sicilian road race that Porschehad recently done very well at.All types of cars can have target tops,but because Porsche trademarked the name,manufacturers just can't call it that.The ND Miata RS have a targa style roofas well as the C4 Corvette.Some people think thatyou can interchange T-topand targa top but there'sactually a bit of a differencebecause T-tops have arigid non-removable barrunning from front to theback, called the T-bar.Arguably, the shapiest ofcar shapes is the wedge car.(upbeat music)Some of the most iconic pointy boyslike the DeLorean DMC12, the Lancer Stratosand the Lamborghini Countachemerged in the 70s and 80s.True wedge cars were morefuturistic concept carsor experimental racing carsthat weren't really practical,though a few of them didmake it to production.The grandfather of thewedge cars the same guywho designed the Mark I Golf,the man of many Gs, GiorgettoGiugiaro, my back hurts.Now, it seems insane to go from somethingas cool as a wedge car to somethingas aggressively normal as SUV,but that's what we're gonna do.An SUV's defining featuresare raised ground clearance,a higher ride height, four wheel driveand off-roading capabilitiesbeyond its functionas a passenger car.They sometimes have two doorslike the old Bronco or Blazeror four doors like most SUVs today.There was a time when SUVs were producedwith a body on frame stylewhere the separate bodywas mounted onto thechassis of a light truck.This method differentiatesSUVs from crossoverswhich are smaller but similar vehicleswith less off-road capabilitiesand get better fuel economywhich use unibody constructionand a car-based platform.A perfect crossover exampleis the mid 90s Toyota RAV4,which really opened this type of vehicleup to the market segment but now that SUVsare frequently being producedwith unibody construction,the delineation is kind of moot,and SUV has basicallybecome a catchall termthat includes crossovers.Alright, so that's it.Those are the differentkinds of car bodiesI've got for you today.Let me know in the comments if there's onethat I didn't reallycover and that you'd liketo hear more about, like trucks.Guys, make sure you subscribe to Donut.We put out a show every day.It's pretty crazy.We're all going a littleinsane because of it,but it's fine.We do it for you.Follow Donut, @donutmedia.Follow me @nolanjsykeson Instagram and Twitter.Be kind.See you next time.