Thetorpedo body style was a type of automobile body used from 1908 until the mid-1930s, which had a streamlined profile and a folding or detachablesoft top. This design included ahood or bonnet line that was raised to align with the car's waistline, creating a straightbeltline from front to back.[1]
The name was introduced in 1908 when Captain Theo Masui, theLondon-based importer of FrenchGregoire cars, designed a streamlined body and called it "The Torpedo".[2]
The Torpedo body style was usually fitted to four- or five-seattouring cars (cars without a fixed roof) with detachable or folding roof, and low side panels and doors. Torpedo cars did not haveB pillars, so the only uprights present were those supporting thewindshield.
Similar styles arephaeton andbaquet.[3]
The name is also used for trucks with a hood or bonnet.[4][5]
Torpedo – Continental term for an open four-seat car with soft hood and sporting tendencies and in which the line of the bonnet was continued back to the rear of the car.
When cabs were modularized in the 2-series in 1980, the first version to be launched was the bonneted cab, the so-called T-cab, with a torpedo-like design.
To meet the more conservative demands of specific sectors of the market, DAF introduced its first bonneted truck in 1957, with mechanical specifications similar to the cab-over-engine models. Generically known as the 'Torpedo' series, these new trucks were initially supplied as a chassis and bonnet, allowing coachbuilders to construct the cabs.
 | This article about abrass-era automobile produced between 1905 and 1915 is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
 | This article aboutclassic andvintage automobiles produced between 1915 and 1930 is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |