Sedan (automobile)

A sedan or saloon (British English)[1][2] is a passenger car in a three-box configuration with separate compartments for an engine, passengers, and cargo.[3] The first recorded use of sedan in reference to an automobile body occurred in 1912.[4] The name derives from the 17th-century litter known as a sedan chair, a one-person enclosed box with windows and carried by porters. Variations of the sedan style include the close-coupled sedan, club sedan, convertible sedan, fastback sedan, hardtop sedan, notchback sedan, and sedanet/sedanette.

For specific automobiles, see Sedan § Transportation.

2017 Toyota Camry sedan
1928 Ford Model A Tudor sedan
World's first all-steel sedan made by Budd for Dodge Bros, 1919

Definition
Profiles of a sedan, station wagon and hatchback versions of the same model (a Ford Focus)

A sedan (/sɪˈdæn/) is a car with a closed body (i.e. a fixed metal roof) with the engine, passengers, and cargo in separate compartments.[5] This broad definition does not differentiate sedans from various other car body styles, but in practice, the typical characteristics of sedans are:

  • a B-pillar (between the front and rear windows) that supports the roof;[6]
  • two rows of seats;[7]: 134 
  • a three-box design with the engine at the front and the cargo area at the rear;[8][9]
  • a less steeply sloping roofline than a coupé, which results in increased headroom for rear passengers and a less sporting appearance;[10] and
  • a rear interior volume of at least 33 cu ft (0.93 m3).[11][12]

It is sometimes suggested that sedans must have four doors (to provide a simple distinction between sedans and two-door coupés); others state that a sedan can have four or two doors.[7]: 134 [13][14] While the sloping rear roofline defined the coupe, the design element has become common on many body styles with manufacturers increasingly "cross-pollinating" the style so that terms such as sedan and coupé have been loosely interpreted as "'four-door coupes' - an inherent contradiction in terms."[15][16]

When a manufacturer produces two-door sedan and four-door sedan versions of the same model, the shape and position of the greenhouse on both versions may be identical, with only the B-pillar positioned further back to accommodate the longer doors on the two-door versions.[17]

Etymology
Turkish sedan chair from a historical exhibition

A sedan chair, a sophisticated litter, was an enclosed box with windows used to transport one seated person. Porters at the front and rear carried the chair with horizontal poles.[18] Litters date back to long before ancient Egypt, India, and China. Sedan chairs were developed in the 1630s. Etymologists suggest the name of the chair very probably came through varieties of Italian from the Latin sedere, meaning "to sit".[19]

Motor World, November 14, 1912

The first recorded use of sedan for an automobile body occurred in 1912 when the Studebaker Four and Studebaker Six models were marketed as sedans.[19][20] There were fully enclosed automobile bodies before 1912. Long before that time, the same fully enclosed but horse-drawn carriages were known as a brougham in the United Kingdom, berline in France, and berlina in Italy; the latter two have become the terms for sedans in these countries. It is sometimes stated that the 1899 Renault Voiturette Type B (a 2-seat car with an extra external seat for a footman/mechanic) was the first sedan, since it is the first known car to be produced with a roof. A one-off instance of a similar coachwork is also known in a 1900 De Dion-Bouton Type D.[21][22]

A sedan is typically considered to be a fixed-roof car with at least four seats.[19] Based on this definition, the earliest sedan was the 1911 Speedwell, which was manufactured in the United States.[23]: 87 

International terminology
1900 Renault Type B

In American English, Latin American Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese, the term sedan is used (accented as sedán in Spanish).[24] In British English, a car of this configuration is called a saloon (/səˈlun/).[2] Hatchback sedans are known simply as hatchbacks (not hatchback saloons); long-wheelbase luxury saloons with a division between the driver and passengers are limousines.

In Australia and New Zealand, sedan is now predominantly used, they were previously simply cars. In the 21st century, saloon is still found in the long-established names of particular motor races. In other languages, sedans are known as berline (French), berlina (European Spanish, European Portuguese, Romanian, and Italian), though they may include hatchbacks. These names, like the sedan, all come from forms of passenger transport used before the advent of automobiles. In German, a sedan is called Limousine and a limousine is a Stretch-Limousine.[25]

In the United States, two-door sedan models were marketed as Tudor in the Ford Model A (1927–1931) series.[26] Automakers use different terms to differentiate their products and for Ford's sedan body styles "the tudor (2-door) and fordor (4-door) were marketing terms designed to stick in the minds of the public."[26] Ford continued to use the Tudor name for 5-window coupes, 2-door convertibles, and roadsters since all had two doors.[27] The Tudor name was also used to describe the Škoda 1101/1102 introduced in 1946.[28] The name was popularized by the public for a two-door model and was then applied by the automaker to the entire line that included a four-door sedan and station wagon versions.[28]

Standard styles
Chrysler 300C notchback sedan

Notchback sedans
Main article: Notchback

In the United States, the notchback sedan distinguishes models with a horizontal trunk lid. The term is generally only referred to in marketing when it is necessary to distinguish between two sedan body styles (e.g. notchback and fastback) of the same model range.

Liftback sedans
Main article: Liftback

Several sedans have a fastback profile, but have a hatchback-style tailgate which is hinged at the roof. Examples include the Peugeot 309, Škoda Octavia, Hyundai Elantra XD, Chevrolet Malibu Maxx, BMW 4 Series Grand Coupe, Audi A5 Sportback, and Tesla Model S. The names hatchback and sedan are often used to differentiate between body styles of the same model. To avoid confusion, the term hatchback sedan is not often used.

Fastback sedans
Main article: Fastback

There have been many sedans with a fastback style.

Hardtop sedans
1957 Cadillac four-door hardtop
1957 Sunbeam two-door hardtop
Main article: Hardtop § Pillarless Hardtops

Hardtop sedans were a popular body style in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s. Hardtops are manufactured without a B-pillar leaving uninterrupted open space or, when closed, glass along the side of the car.[29][30][31] The top was intended to look like a convertible's top but it was fixed and made of hard material that did not fold.[25]

All manufacturers in the United States from the early 1950s into the 1970s provided at least a 2-door hardtop model in their range and a 4-door hardtop as well. The lack of side bracing demanded a particularly strong and heavy chassis frame to combat unavoidable flexing. The pillarless design was also available in four-door models using unibody construction.[32] For example, Chrysler moved to unibody designs for most of its models in 1960 and American Motors Corporation offered four-door sedans, as well a four-door station wagon from 1958 until 1960 in the Rambler and Ambassador series.[33]

In 1973, the US government passed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 216 creating a standard roof strength test to measure the integrity of roof structure in motor vehicles to come into effect some years later. Production of hardtop sedan body style ended with the 1978 Chrysler Newport. For a time roofs were covered with vinyl and B-pillars were minimized by using styling methods like matt black finishes. Stylists and engineers soon developed more subtle solutions.[25]

Mid-20th century variations
1929 Packard Close Coupled Sedan

Close-coupled sedans

A close-coupled sedan is a body style produced in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. Their two-box boxy styling made these sedans more like crossover vehicles than traditional three-box sedans. Like other close-coupled body styles, the rear seats are located further forward than a regular sedan.[7]: 43 [34] This reduced the length of the body; close-coupled sedans, also known as town sedans, were the shortest of the sedan models offered.[35]

Models of close-coupled sedans include the Chrysler Imperial,[36][37] Duesenberg Model A,[38] and Packard 745[39]

Coach sedans
1947 Bugatti Coach
1932 Chevrolet Coach

A two-door sedan for four or five passengers but with less room for passengers than a standard sedan. A Coach body has no external trunk for luggage. Haajanen says it can be difficult to tell the difference between a Club and a Brougham and a Coach body as if manufacturers were more concerned with marketing their product than adhering to strict body style definitions.[25]

1967 Rover 3-litre coupé

Close-coupled saloons

Close-coupled saloons originated as four-door thoroughbred sporting horse-drawn carriages with little room for the feet of rear passengers. In automotive use, manufacturers in the United Kingdom used the term for the development of the chummy body where passengers were forced to be friendly because they were tightly packed. They provided weather protection for extra passengers in what would otherwise be a two-seater car. Two-door versions would be described in the United States and France as coach bodies.[40] A postwar example is the Rover 3 Litre Coupé.

Club sedans
1932 Buick series 90 Club Sedan
1954 Kaiser Manhattan Club Sedan

Produced in the United States from the mid-1920s to the mid-1950s, the name club sedan was used for highly appointed models using the sedan chassis.[7]: 44  Some people describe a club sedan as a two-door vehicle with a body style otherwise identical to the sedan models in the range.[41] Others describe a club sedan as having either two or four doors and a shorter roof and therefore less interior space than the other sedan models in the range.[7]: 44 

Club sedan originates from the club carriage (e.g. the lounge or parlour carriage) in a railroad train.[7]: 44 

1947 Buick Sedanet

Sedanets

From the 1910s to the 1950s, several United States manufacturers have named models either Sedanet or Sedanette. The term originated as a smaller version of the sedan;[42] however, it has also been used for convertibles and fastback coupes. Models that have been called Sedanet or Sedanette include the 1917 Dort Sedanet,[43] King,[42] 1919 Lexington,[42] 1930s Cadillac Fleetwood Sedanette,[44] 1949 Cadillac Series 62 Sedanette,[45] 1942-1951 Buick Super Sedanet,[46][47] and 1956 Studebaker.

See also

References
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  2. "saloon". Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  3. "Car Design Glossary - Part 2: One-Box (Monospace or Monovolume)". Car Design News. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2015. The principal volumes of the traditional sedan can be split into separate compartments or boxes: the hood/bonnet is the first box; the passenger compartment the second, and the trunk/boot the third - i.e. it's a 'three-box' car.
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  6. Duffy, James (2008). Auto Body Repair Technology (Fifth ed.). Cengage Learning. pp. 27–28. ISBN 9781418073541. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
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  27. "1937 Ford Tudor". classicautomall.com. 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  28. Cibulka, Zdeněk (25 April 2019). "Škoda Tudor: A Car That Still Has a Lot to Offer". Škoda Storyboard. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
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  47. "Fastback Fascination – 1949 Buick Model 56-S Super Sedanet". hemmings.com. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
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