Cars! They used to come in all shapes and sizes. They still do, kinda, but the US market has gotten very SUV-heavy of late. That sort of implies most people prefer a high-riding, chunky vehicle with a bulbous body shape. But this isn’t Autopian Assumes, it’s Autopian Asks! So I ask you: what is your favorite body style?
Once upon a time, there were a handful of clearly defined body styles for roadgoing vehicles. You had your four-door sedans, and you had wagons, which provided more cargo space in the back. Coupes cut the doors to two for a sportier style, while roadsters went further and chopped the top off. Then you had trucks and vans, which were their own sort of deal.
Today, it’s altogether more complex. Compacts came along and the hatchback was born. Then the 1980s was the sort of nascent era of the SUV craze, which took the industry by storm. Eventually, automakers realized the utilitarian part of these vehicles wasn’t actually that desirable. Customers just liked the high-seating position and the look of these vehicles, rather than caring about their off-road abilities. This led to the invention of the softer crossover style, which has created an odd sort of vehicle that’s almost trending back towards the traditional wagon body style.
Things get worse when you look at the premium market, which invented the four-door coupe in some kind of drug-fueled marketing meeting in the last ten years. Basically, to certain German automakers, coupe now means “swoopy roof curves down at the back” and not “two doors” anymore.
In any case, I know my preference: I’m a coupe and roadster driver. I like my cars light, limber, and nimble, and I rarely need to carry more than one passenger.
Sure, at times, I’ve appreciated the utility of larger cars when I’ve reviewed them, but it’s not something I seek in my daily life. Two doors for days, that’s what I say.
I’ve had plenty of other cars—multiple sedans, a compact crossover, and even a big Volvo wagon. But my favorites have always had two doors—the Mazda Miata, the Audi TT, and the Daihatsu Feroza. Roofless is always a bonus.
But what of you? Are you a wagonhead or a hatch obsessive? Or maybe you’re the one who convinced PR staff to brazenly lie that it was okay to say four-door cars were coupes? Either way, sound off below!
My answer is an echo of a common answer here, and yet the market doesn’t bear out these preferences. That said, I go wagon every time. Manual transmission, at that. I’m on my second now. Both were purchased new, but, again, that market signal hasn’t translated into keeping them for sale here in the US.
I like station wagons and their windowless relatives like the Ford Escort Van. I do not like the Chevy HHR in any form but would love a Chevelle panel truck
Coupes and pickups.
I’ve owned 9 coupes, 7 pickups, 2 sedans, 2 convertibles, and 2 SUVs.
In descending order – The Top 5:
4 seat convertible (soft top only please)
2 seat convertible (soft top, of course – tho an additional detachable hardtop is good too)
Hardtop 2 door coupe (Weird that we need to define that)
Pillared 2 door coupe – with rear windows that lower.
Station Wagon
Lifted wagony cars – like the incredibly genius AMC Eagle.
Wagons all the way. Wagons are still immensly popular in Australia athough there are very few new ones on the market. The secondhand ones are usually at a premium compared to their sedan versions.
I’m looking at getting a Corolla hybrid Wagon. In Australia I have to goto the Grey market import dealers and buy secondhand from Japan as locally Toyota haven’t sold a Corolla Wagon for 18years.
Fastbacks, obviously!Not like it’s a fully unique attribute, but I like how vans are honest and not “pretty” by default.
“How big is a regular parking space?”
“This big.”
“Make something a teeny bit smaller than that and as tall as is reasonable. Maximize interior space.”
Other than that…hatchbacks and station wagons. Sedans when other people drive them.
Favorites:
Ferrari Shooting Brake,
Audi Avant RS6,
1986 Toyota MR2 (owned for 17 years)
Least liked:
BMW X6 and anything resembling or inspired by it.
It will always be a two door coupe. If it’s a hatch ( such as the 3’rd generation GM F Body), so much the better.
2-seat sports car
Based on my ownership history, two-door three-box cars. My Miata and ’66 Thunderbird have little else in common, but they do have that.
But, the Miata differs in that it’s a convertible and therefore looks like a sleek one-box (plus triangle, counting the windshield) with the roof down. I love convertibles from a style perspective. Making roofs look nice and proportional and tie in elegantly to the body of the car is an art, but put the roof down in a convertible and you’ve automatically eliminated any roof awkwardness, and the resulting look is just stunning and sleek. This also ties the interior styling into the exterior, really showing off whatever beauty there is to be found in the upholstery and dashboard.
I’ve seen plenty of notchback coupes where the roofline just didn’t do it for me, and I found myself wishing it was a convertible instead so it could just look as sleek as possible without any roof hindering things. Coupes should be fastback whenever possible if not convertibles, but there is something to be said for doing away with the roof entirely.
And just in terms of the driving experience, I love having the top down! When the weather’s nice, there’s no better feeling than the wind in your hair and unmatched visibility all around you.
To be fair, not every car can or should be a convertible. Convertible sedans are cool but rare for a reason, and I’ve never seen a convertible station wagon or hatchback. And when the weather isn’t so nice, it’s far more comfortable to drive something with a fixed roof, not to mention the handling and rigidity benefits, and the cost of replacing a soft top, and the rollover safety… And also station wagons rule.
It’s just from a purely styling and driving experience standpoint, I like convertibles. They’re pretty, and I like the open air 🙂
Shooting brake
Two-door coupes, especially notchbacks (bonus for sail panels!), and two door convertibles. I count swoopy cars like Corvettes and 4th-gen F-bodies as 2-door coupes, because no one uses the hatch as a door and even though they have a hatch they have a coupe profile rather than being fugly little boxes.
Wagon for sure. The only sedan I ever bought was because I needed a car and I couldn’t find a wagon in the time alloted. Shortly thereafter, I sold the sedan when a wagon was found sitting behind a VW dealer they didn’t want on the lot. The heads were popping, so I got it cheap, but still drove it home. A ’67 VW squareback in ’78, still have it. Second choice is a van of some sort, as I have owned about 8 VW busses over the years.
I adore hatches and wagons, but a nice coupe (a real one not some 4 door bastard) goes a long way. As an aside, I know it fits the definition of a hatchback, but I’ll be 6 feet under before I recognize a type R as one. It’s a sedan with a hatch.
I love hatchbacks!! I have a 2011 impreza hatch, and that thing will climb any icy hill, fits a shocking amount of stuff, and is still pretty nimble all things considered.
I did lift it 1.5″ to clear some particularly high angle-of-approach intersections in my town and stop scraping. And I will admit…. it’s basically as tall as a crosstrek now.
If small crossovers are just tall hatchbacks. Maybe it’s not all too bad?
When I had my Mazda3 hatch all I ever needed was a bit more ground clearance for the backroads camping and the mountain of snow to get through after the plow. Now I drive a CRV which is basically that. Tall hatch is great.
Convertible version of a hatchback.
Done by Pininfarina.
205 CT
At the risk of upsetting anyone who thinks we are all fakes for feeling this way, I prefer hatchbacks and station wagons. Shooting brakes are included.
Shooting break
Sedan, wagon, coupe, sports car in that order.
Hardtop sedan! They may have the stiffness of a wet noodle, but some 50s/60s hardtop sedans look like coupes, but with extra practicality.
Also big shout-out to the like 5 hardtop 4-door wagons out there.
aren’t all sedans hardtops?
oh no no, not like hardtop convertible. A hardtop sedan has no B-pillar so you get this wonderful open airy feeling with the windows down. Just search “hardtop sedan” in Google images and you’ll see 🙂
I can’t believe no one has suggested the exquisite hardtop sedan. Classier than a coupe, cooler than a wagon
wagons and shooting brakes. love em so much i got two of em at the moment and and a few before that.
Old-school Jeeps, or Jeep-adjacent ones, have no top utility vehicles, are followed closely by station wagons or hatchbacks, and are rounded out by the single-cab 8′ bed pick-up truck.
My favorite cars I’ve owned were the 2-door hatchback sportscars. They used to be all over the damn place and now they’re next to impossible to find.