Every Car Body Shapes Explained - Basic Car Body Types

Hello Guys, Everyone one of us Loves Cars or at least see cars while walking on the Road, What Makes "Hatchback" a Hatchback and SUV an SUV, Come on let's see how cars are classified based on their Shapes and Body types and Why are they Named Like That.
A Car's overall Outline or its Character is shown By its Shape, In Overall, A Car's Shape Shows its Purpose And its Category in this overcrowded automobile Market.
In this Post, We Will Learn Some key Tools to Identify Different Body Styles and Why they Are called so.

 Basics:

To understand the various designs first, We need to know About the basics. The body of an automobile is made of a structure that is just the same as that of a house. It has similar components which include the roof, the pillars, and the floor. The car pillar in the vehicle stands in the near-vertical position which supports the vehicle’s roof.

Most cars are divided into 3-box style and 2-box styles, with up to four "pillars" (A, B, C & D) also called posts.

Sedan or Saloon:

This is one of the most common types of body styles that is available Worldwide, It is also Called as Saloon, Generally A sedan Consist of Three Box Configuration With 4 Doors, A closed Body With Fixed Roof, And Capable of Seating 4 or 5 Peoples Comfortably Between Two Rows This Makes it Very Popular in the World, The word ‘sedan’ is believed to be derived from a southern Italian dialect, sedia that means ‘chair’. The Studebaker Four and Six Models are first Marketed with the term Sedan back in 1911. But Still, The first car maker to use the Word Sedan is still a Debate. Today, almost every automaker keeps a line of sedan style cars in its production as it is the most popular car body type. Also to Distinguish it from Hatchback, sedans have their own boxy separate Trunk. That's the Third Box. Some Examples Of the Sedans are Honda Accord, Toyota Corolla, Suzuki Ciaz, Honda City, Audi A3.

Characteristics Of Sedans:

• It Has a Three Box Configuration
• 4 Doors
• Fixed Roof
• 4-5 Seating Capacity

Coupe:

A Coupe or Coupé is Often a Two Door with Three or Two Box Configuration and Are Sportier and More Compact Than the Sedans. Also, Coupes comes with A fixed Roof and a Sloping Rear Roof Line. These cars have a conventional trunk or a sloping back with an attached rear cargo hatch that opens upward.

 Like a Lot of Car body shapes the Term Coupe also comes from old Horse Carriages, In French Coupé Means To Cut, The Coupé was a Type of horse Carriages that seated Two instead of Four.

Also in the Past Decade Car Manufacturers Made the Naming So confusing, Calling Their 4 Door Models as a Coupé. Mazda calls Their Rx8 a Coupe. and BMW X6 has Four Doors and also has a sleek Roofline it is marketed as a Coupe. 

Some Examples Of Coupe are The Porsche 718, Porsche 911,  Jaguar F type. Etc

Characteristics Of Coupé:

• Two Doors
• Fixed Roof
• 2-4 Seating Capacity
• 2 or 3 box Configuration
• Sleek Roofline

Station Wagon or Estate Cars:

Unlike the Three Box Design of the Sedan And the Coupe, Station Wagons have a Long Bodied Two Box Configuration, This shows that the passenger and the Cargo area are joined in one Cabin, With the Rear Tailgate Hinged to Access the Trunk. This Offered a lot of Space for the Consumers, Cab Drivers with Ford Model T to increase Cargo Space Approached Custom Coach Builders TO build them large Bodies on their Existing Chassis. A wagon offers everything from all-wheel drive, a roomy interior, rugged off-road ground clearance, abundant technology, to turbo-diesel torque and efficiency. Occasionally this term is used to refer to passenger vans. These vehicles were very popular among families during the 1950s through the ‘70s. Now their Market is Almost Vanished Due to The Popularity Of SUV's And MPV's.

Tata Indigo Marina

Tata Estate

Examples Of Station Wagons are, Tata Estate, Maruti Baleno Altura, Tata Indigo Marina, Fiat Palio Weekend, The recent of them is Datsun GO + To be real Station Wagons are A complete Failure In Indian Market. Some Great Wagons are Audi RS6 Avant, Volvo V90 Cross Country and etc, Even The Legendary Hindustan Ambassador Had a Station Wagon Version.

Manufacturers also played with the Station WagonsThe 2012 Mercedes CLS, And also The Porsche Panamera must be Called Wagons but They Won't.

Characteristics of a Station Wagon:

• Two Box Configuration  
• Large Space
• More Than 5 Seating Capacity
• A Hatched Trunk

Hatchbacks:

Another Most Common and popular Body Style is the Hatchback, named for its Hatch Type Rear Doors That open Upwards. Hatchbacks can be described as three-door or five-door cars (Here The Fifth Door is our Trunk Door) that come with a rear door that swings upward to increase a cargo area. Every minivan, compact SUV, and the crossover is technically a hatchback. Because it has a Hatched Rear Door. Hatchbacks are perfect city cars as they are easy to drive, easy to park. Hatchbacks are a perfect blend of comfort, power, handling, and safety. The Hatchback Name was not popular until the '70s. 

Most well Known Hatchback is the Volkswagen Golf, Designed By the Designer of the Century Giorgetto Giugiaro. Every Car company has at least one Hatchback version of its Existing Model. Also, Luxury Car Manufacturers have Hatchbacks, Ex: BMW X5, Audi A7 etc

The Indian Market is flooded With Hatchbacks, The Maruti Suzuki Alto is the Best Selling Car Here in India, In India Suzuki Swift, Suzuki Baleno, Tata Indica, are Selling like hot Cakes. Some Of my Favourite Hatchbacks are VW Golf, Honda Civic, VW polo, Ford Focus RS, Hyundai Veloster N.

MK 1 Golf

Characteristics of a Hatchback:

• 5 Doors (Including The Hatch)
• Small Size
• Two Box Configuration
• Hatched Trunk

Limousine:

This is Very Popular With the Presidents, And big Business Magnets And some Top Celebrities, Yes, The limousine is Considered As a Symbol of Luxury, It has a Stretched Body And Has a Separated Cabin From the Driver Compartment. Stretch Limos are Made By Converting The Bodies Of the Existing Models, Most Common Conversions are The Hummer H2, Cadillac XTS, Cadillac Escalade, Some Entrepreneurs even made some Big Semi Trucks as Limos. Notably, Custom Car Modder DC designs in India Modified Ford Endeavor, Mahindra Scorpios. And They Look Sick.

Modified Scorpio Limousine

The Longest Limousine in the World is the “American Dream,” this massive limousine was built by California custom car builder Jay Ohrberg. It measures in at a stunning 100 feet long, which earned it the title of being the longest car. 

Characteristics Of Limousine:

• Long Body
• Long Wheel Base 
• Has separated Driver And Passenger Compartments
• Modified Existing Models
• Luxurious and Expensive

Microcar:

 It is as simple as its Sounds, Its A car That's Micro They have tiny engines and They Can be Both Four-Wheeled or Three-wheeled like the Peel P50. The Smart For Two is also a microcar. They are almost considered as a Motorcycle with a good weather Protection

Characteristics of Microcar:

• It's not that Tough, It is Micro
• Almost single Box type

Fastbacks:

 The Sportscar or Fastback is a Type of Car that is super sportier and aerodynamic, A fastback has a single Unbroken Slope from the Roof to the rear Bumper That makes the car look more sportier and aerodynamic, The Teardrop design Cars of the Early 1930s are some Great examples of Fastbacks, Fastbacks are usually Coupes but they can also be Sedans. The Classic 1967 Mustang is also a Fastback, The Plymouth Barracuda, Kia stinger is a Fastback and Porsche 911 is a car that has maintained its Fastback Shape from its debut in 1963. 

Fastbacks can be confused with the Notchback A notchback includes a horizontal Trunk lid.

Tesla Model Y - A Kammback

 Also, there is a style called Kammback slopes downwards like a fastback and cuts vertically down, The Toyota Prius is a Kammback, And the coolest Kammback is The Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe it is one of the sickest cars out there with Kammback Design, Even The Legendary LE'Mans Winning Ford GT40 is A Kammback Design it is used to Reduce Drag. 

Even Teslas Model Y is a Kammback

Characteristics Of Fastback:

• Sporty Look
• Low Ground Clearance
• Single slope line from Roof to Bumper
• Mostly Two Doors

Convertibles:

A Convertible also Called as a Cabriolet, A convertible is a car that has a detachable or folding roof. Most of the Convertibles are Two Doors and also four Door Convertibles do exist, A Hard Top Convertible is one with the Roof that is made of Steel or Aluminium or Plastic, A soft Top Convertible is one with A roof made of vinyl, Canvas, or Sheets. The Name Cabriolet also comes from the name of Horse Carriage that had a detachable Roof. 

Convertibles are also called as Roadsters or Spyders, A true Roadster is a Two Door, Two-seater model with no weather Protection. Examples of some Convertibles are the Tesla Roadster, Mazda MX5s. Porsche 918 Spyder, Mini Copper Convertible, etc 

There is also a T top Convertible that has a non-removable bar running from the front to the Back 

A T Top Convertible

Characteristic of Convertibles:

• Two Doors
• Detachable or Foldable Roof
• Sporty
• Two Seats (Some May Have 4 Seats)

SUV's:

 SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) is a type of car that we mostly see in Our Road, The SUV is a type of passenger vehicle which possess passenger-carrying and load-pulling abilities with the efficiency of a pick-up truck The Main Features of an SUV is Raised Ground Clearance and Higher Ride Height, Four Wheel Drive (4WD), They Almost have 4 doors and some of them also came with two doors Example, The Suzuki Gypsy, Ford Bronco and Chevy Blazer, There was a time that SUV's are Built like Trucks, They have Been Built on Body on Frame Style, Where a body is fit onto a Ladder Frame Chassis of a Light Truck, But nowadays Most of the SUV's are made as unibody Structure. Ex of SUV's are Tata Sumo, Mahindra Scorpio, Bolero, The Jeep and Land Rover Cars are Perfect example of an SUV. The SUV has very rugged overall Look

Characteristics Of SUV:

• High Ground Clearance
• Four Wheel Drive
• Rugged Look
• High Ride Height
• Good Load Pulling Capability
• 7 or 8 Seats

Crossovers:

Crossovers or Cross Utility Vehicles (CUV) are generally tall wagons and SUVs that are based on a car platform for improved ride, comfort and fuel economy. They come with a front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive or all-wheel-drive configurations. The Crossover is a Mini SUV like Style which is very popular in India Nowadays, Like the Renault Duster, Suzuki Vitara Breeza, Hyundai Creta, etc

 The Crossover offers a great rugged look of an SUV with high ride height and a little off-road capability, Nowadays Every Car Manufacturer has a crossover of their SUV models. As crossover offers useful attributes of many vehicle types, they are becoming popular among people.

Examples Of Crossovers Are Renault Duster, Suzuki Vitara Breeza, etc

A Crossover

Characteristic of Crossovers:

• High Ground Clearance
• SUV inspired Look
• 4-5 Seater
• Cheap when Compared To SUV's

MPV or MUV:

MPV(Multi-Purpose Vehicle) or MUV(Multi Utility Vehicle) is a type of automobile that is identical in shape to a van and is designed for personal use. The vehicle is typically based on a mid-sized car, SUV, or minivan platform. These vehicles are as useful as SUVs with a similar ride, though from a construction point of view not very robust. MPVs have the seating capacity of at least seven passengers. These cars also offer enough carrying space. 

MPVs are used extensively for private and public transport. MPV has multiple features that make traveling an easy and comfortable experience. Some of the popular Multi Utility Vehicles are Toyota Innova, Mahindra Xylo, Honda Mobilio. Suzuki Ertiga. 

In India, The MPV market is a very Demanding Market and The Toyota Innova wins it without any Competition. They are much more similar to the Station Wagon, But with increased interior features, and good fuel economy, And great Reliability.

Characteristics Of MPV:

• Two Box Design 
• 7 to 9 Seater
• Less Ground Clearance When compared with SUV's
• Multi-utility

Van:

It is the most common type of vehicle used for transporting mainly goods or people. It is generally covered and is nearly cubical in shape, And are Taller in Height, They are super useful for Shop Owners to small scale business owners. It is mostly of a single Box design. Also, It has sliding Doors rather than regular doors. One of the most perfect examples is the Maruti Omni, Which ruled the Indian Market for almost two Entire Decades, The Suzuki Ecco also a good example of a Van. The word van for vehicles has arrived as a contradiction of the word caravan. 

Characteristics of Van:

• Boxy Looks
• Single Box Design
• Taller
• Sliding Doors

Hope, We covered some Basic Car shapes in this Post, Mention your Thoughts in the Comments and Help us to Improve on our content, These are some Basic car body shapes Subscribe to our Blog for More Interesting Content