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. ************************************************************* To unsubscribe or set your subscription options, please go to http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=l-forwardlook&A=1
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