Re: [FWDLK] Riding the Coupe

[Ray Jones <hurst300@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A Rose by any other name smells as sweet. But you can't just call
anything a Rose.
At least as of 1951, a Hardtop was a pillarless car. Then only in 2
doors, later they made 4 doors. All cars other than Convertibles has a
"hardtop" but Hardtop meant that it had NO pillars. I've owned 15 or so
Hardtops and they never had pillars. Sedans have pillars.
Coupe originally meant a "closed short coupled car", as opposed to a
roomy long Sedan.
A Business Coupe had no rear seat, giving lots of space for a
salesman's stuff, and often had access to the trunk from the doors, or
an extended trunk into the pass compartment.
 I had a 1939 Buick Opera Convertible Coupe, no rear seat, just small
seats that folded down out of the Quarter upholstery.

It's a shame that the Marketing Dept. messes with the words for a
supposed advantage. '56 & '57 Furys were special cars, available one
way only,  and then in '58 they made it a line. Nice cars, but not the
same. Chrysler 300's were a special car until '62, they made it a
series line. Riding on the name recognition, "I bought me a 300!". Not
the same, Bud,
They paste GT labels on base cars. It should be a very powerful road
car for traveling. That's what the GT means, or did.

My spare change, Ray
Ain't old cars neat?

On Jan 24, 2005, at 8:49 AM, cpollock@xxxxxxxx wrote:

> Hello All,
> Mopar-ese from that era was the sames as most car manufacturers.  A
> two or four-door hardtop had a pillar between the doors.  Or on a
> two-door you would find a pillar between the driver's door glass and
> the quarter panel window.  On some hardtops (such as the Superbee and
> Roadrunner) this was used as the hinge point for the window to pivot
> outward.
> A two or four-door coupe did not have the pillar.  My 73 4-dr Newport
> did not have a pillar between the windows, and the VIN number coded it
> as a 'coupe'.  Most 4-dr Chryslers, Plymouths and Dodge C-bodies were
> pillar-less coupes.  Most Roadrunners and Superbees were Hardtops
> because of the extra structural rigidity that the pillar added.  It is
> actually a fairly good way (not 100% accurate of course) of telling a
> real Big Block car from a dressed up Small Block car.  This would
> happen when someone took a 68-70 satellite and turned it into a
> 'RoadRunner' by adding a big block and deleting the comfort options.
> The VIN always tells the truth though, unless it was removed (a
> federal offense by the way), from the dashpad.
>
> Anyway,
> Just my pennies,
> Charles.
>
> PS- Terry and Andree, the 71 Fury Gran Coupe was a fairly rare model,
> as most went into fleet duty.  I have never actually seen the
> headlight washer option live in person, though all my books point to
> it's existance.  It was also available on 71 Chargers and Monacos.
> Not sure what else you could get it on, but it was dropped across the
> board by 72, so it was a 1-year-only thing.
>
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