Coupes Converging Towards 2-Door Sedans 1935-1953

Automobile body type naming is not scientific taxonomy.  Originally, body types were carryovers from styles of horse-drawn carriages because car coachbuilders either had previously done pre- motor car work or else patterned designs after traditional styles.

But cars are not carriages, and carriage body traits became less and less distinct on automobiles.  By the 1930s, few car bodies were coachbuilt, and sales and marketing people were applying fancy coach labels to production cars in an effort to entice sales.

The present post deals with coupes (as coupés are spelled and pronounced in the USA).  In the 1920s and much of the '30s, a coupe was a single bench seat affair, the passenger greenhouse set between the hood and a bustle back.  During the 1940s and into the early '50s coupe greenhouses became longer (Studebaker was the main exception).  Eventually, though coupe greenhouses were shorter than those on 2-door sedans, they were long enough to allow a cramped, back bench seat.  Coupes were becoming 2-door sedans.  And by the mid-1950s, the term "coupe" had essentially disappeared for closed American car bodies.

Below are some examples of coupes along with two-door sedans.  Unless noted, photos below are of cars listed for sale.

Gallery

1935 Chevrolet Master De Luxe Coach
Master De Luxe cars had redesigned Chevy bodies for 1935.

1935 Chevrolet Master De Luxe Coupe
Here is the four-window coupe version.

1935 Chevrolet Master De Luxe Sport Coupe - factory image
There also was this two-window coupe, here with a rumble seat.  These coupe bodies are quite distinct from those on two-door sedans.

1950 Hudson Pacemaker Brougham
Hudson's postwar 2-door sedan body.

1950 Hudson Pacemaker Coupe
And the coupe variant.  Clearly not identical, with a shorter greenhouse.

1949 Ford Custom Tudor
Ford's postwar design.  The two-door sedan is easy to identify thanks to the aft quarter vent window.

1949 Ford Coupe
Like the Hudson, the coupe-sedan designs are nearly the same aside from greenhouse length.

1950 Oldsmobile 88 2-door sedan - Barrett-Jackson auction photo
Olds 88s shared General Motors' A-bodies with Chevrolet and Pontiac for 1950.

1950 Oldsmobile 88 Club Coupe
Oldsmobile's only 1950 coupes were found on 88s.  The greenhouse is long enough to house a cramped back seat.

1953 Chevrolet Bel Air 2-door sedan
Chevrolets and Pontiacs were given what seemed to be a restyling.  Though as best I can tell, body components were passed along from 1951 B-bodies and even 1949 A-bodies.  This two-door appears to have B-body components.

1953 Chevrolet Two-Ten Club Coupe
But the coupe's passenger greenhouse seems to be the A-body version (compare to the Olds above).  The rear seatback can be glimpsed through the window.