World's first all-steel sedan made byBudd forDodge Bros, 1919
Asedan (American English) orsaloon (British English)[1][2] is apassenger car in athree-box configuration with separate compartments for an engine, passengers, and cargo.[3] Variations of the sedan style include the close-coupled sedan, club sedan, convertible sedan, fastback sedan, hardtop sedan, notchback sedan, and sedanet.
The sedan name derives from the 17th-centurylitter known as a "sedan chair", a one-person enclosed box with windows carried by porters. The first recorded use of the termsedan to describe an automobile body style occurred in 1912.[4]
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. In practice, the typical characteristics of sedans include the following:
AB-pillar (between the front and rear windows) that supports the roof.[6]
Athree-box design with the engine at the front and the cargo area at the rear, although many exceptions exist.[8][9]
A less steeply sloping roofline than a coupé results in increased headroom for rear passengers and a less streamlined appearance.[10]
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-doorcoupés); others state that a sedan can have four or two doors.[7]: 134 [13][14] Although 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 and four-door sedan versions of the same model, the shape and position of thegreenhouse 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]
Thisetymological origin points to the sedan chair, a sophisticated form oflitter that emerged in the 1630s. A sedan chair is an enclosed box, typically fitted with windows, designed for transporting a single seated person. It is carried byporters, one at the front and one at the rear, using horizontal poles.[20] While sedan chairs were developed in the 17th century, the concept of litters for human transport dates back much further, predating ancient Egypt, India, and China.
Before the term "sedan" was formally applied to automobiles, fully enclosed car bodies existed. These early enclosed vehicles drew inspiration from their horse-drawn carriage predecessors, which had their own established terminology. For example, in the United Kingdom, enclosed carriages were known as a brougham, while in France they were described as a berline, and in Italy, a berlina. Since then, "berline" and "berlina" have become the standard terms for sedans in their respective countries.
The precise origin of the first enclosed automobile body is debated. Some sources suggest the 1899Renault Voiturette Type B as a contender for the "first sedan," given that it is the earliest known car produced with a roof, albeit a two-seat vehicle with an additional external seat for a footman or mechanic. A singular instance of similar coachwork is also documented on a 1900De Dion-Bouton Type D.[21][22] However, these early examples often featured limited seating or were unique, one-off constructions.
The first recorded use of the term "sedan" specifically about an automobile body style occurred in 1912. This designation was applied when the Studebaker Four and Studebaker Six models were marketed and described in automotive magazine articles as sedans.[18][23] This marked the adoption of the term into the burgeoning automotive lexicon.
A sedan is typically described as a fixed-roof passenger car designed to accommodate at least four seats, most often characterized by a "three-box" configuration with separate compartments for the engine, passengers, and cargo.[18] Based on this widely accepted definition, the 1911Speedwell is often cited as the earliest example of a true sedan. Based in Dayton, Ohio, this automobile manufacturer built a closed, two-door car and named it a "Sedan".[24]: 87
InAustralia andNew Zealand,sedan is now predominantly used; they were previously simply cars. In the 21st century,saloon remains in the long-established names of particular motor races.[citation needed] In other languages, sedans are known asberline (French),berlina (European Spanish,European Portuguese,Romanian, andItalian), though they may include hatchbacks. These names, like the sedan, all come from forms of passenger transport used before the development of automobiles. InGerman, a sedan is calledLimousine.[26]
In the United States, two-door sedan models were marketed as Tudor in theFord Model A (1927–1931) series.[27] Automakers use different terms to differentiate their products and for Ford's sedan body styles "thetudor (2-door) andfordor (4-door) were marketing terms designed to stick in the minds of the public."[27] Ford continued to use the Tudor name for 5-window coupes, 2-door convertibles, and roadsters since all of those body styles had two doors.[28] The Tudor name was also used to describe theŠkoda 1101/1102, a car introduced in 1946 the Czechoslovak automaker.[29] The public popularized the name for the two-door model and was later applied by Škoda to its entire line that included a four-door sedan and station wagon versions.[29]
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 differentiate between two sedan body styles (e.g., notchback and fastback) of the same model range.
Several sedans have afastback profile, but a hatchback-style tailgate is hinged at the roof. Examples include thePeugeot 309,Škoda Octavia,Hyundai Elantra XD,Chevrolet Malibu Maxx,BMW 4 Series Grand Coupe,Audi A5 Sportback, andTesla Model S. The terms 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, but it is a five-door car with a short, sedan-like roof and a large rear hatch.[7]: 90–91 This design, frequently marketed as a fastback or liftback, provides a cargo area that can be expanded by folding down the rear seats. The key difference from a station wagon is the shorter roofline and a more steeply sloping rear. In some European countries, this body style is known as aKombi-sedan. Due to their compact size and short rear overhang, smaller modern hatchbacks can sometimes be confused with small station wagons.[7]: 90–91
There have been many sedans with a fastback style with two and four doors. For example, after World War II,Nash Motors introduced revolutionary 1949 designs that featured an innovative, all-enveloping aerodynamic shape namedAirflyte that was so unconventional that it earned the nickname "bathtub".[31][32] The radical design was to minimize wind resistance with a continuous, seamless front to rear bumper design and roof treatment that set a new standard for a fastback sedan.[33][34] Another example was Volkswagen's two-doorType 3 models differentiated and marketed in the United States assquareback andfastback sedans.[35][36]
Hardtop sedans were a popular body style in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s. Hardtops are manufactured without aB-pillar, leaving uninterrupted open space or, when closed, glass along the side of the vehicle.[37][38][39] The top was intended to look like a convertible's top. However, it was fixed and made of a rigid material that did not fold.[26]
All manufacturers in the United States from the early 1950s into the 1970s provided at least a two-door hardtop model in their range and a four-door hardtop. The lack of side bracing demanded a strong, heavy chassis frame to combat unavoidable flexing. The pillarless design was also available in four-door models usingunibody construction.[40] For example, Chrysler moved to unibody designs for most of its models in 1960, andAmerican Motors Corporation (AMC) offered four-door sedans, as well as a four-doorstation wagon from 1958 until 1960 in the Rambler andAmbassador series.[41]
In 1973, the US government passedFederal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 216, creating a required roof strength test to measure the integrity of roof structure in motor vehicles tocome into effect some years later. The objective was to reduce deaths and injuries due to the car's roof crushing into the passenger compartment in case of a rollover crash.[42] Hardtop sedan body style production ended with the 1978Chrysler Newport. Roofs were often available with standard or optional vinyl cover.[43] The structural B-pillar design was minimized by styling methods like matt black finishes. Stylists and engineers soon developed more subtle solutions.[26]
A close-coupled sedan is a body style produced in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. Their two-box, squarish styling made these designs more likecrossover vehicles than traditional three-box sedans. Like other close-coupled body styles, the rear seats are farther forward than a regular sedan.[7]: 43 [44] This reduced the length of the body; close-coupled sedans, also known as town sedans, were the shortest of the sedan models offered.[45]
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.[26]
Close-coupled saloons originated as four-door thoroughbred sportinghorse-drawn carriages with little room for rear passengers' feet. In automotive use, manufacturers in the United Kingdom used the term to develop thechummy 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.[50] A postwar example is theRover 3 Litre Coupé.
1932 Buick series 90 Club Sedan1954Kaiser 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.[51] 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 a railroad train's club carriage (e.g.,, the lounge or parlour carriage).[7]: 44
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;[52] however, it has also been used for convertibles and fastback coupes. Models that have been called Sedanet or Sedanette include the 1917Dort Sedanet,[53]King,[52] 1919Lexington,[52] 1930sCadillac Fleetwood Sedanette,[54] 1949Cadillac Series 62 Sedanette,[55] 1942-1951Buick Super Sedanet,[56][57] and 1956Studebaker.
^"saloon (noun)".Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. Retrieved1 December 2024.
^ab"saloon".Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved1 December 2024.
^"Car Design Glossary - Part 2: One-Box (Monospace or Monovolume)". Car Design News. Archived fromthe original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved9 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.
^Thomas, Alfred; Jund, Michael (2009).Collision repair and refinishing: a foundation course for technicians. Cengage Learning. p. 164.ISBN9781401889944.
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