Byebye A4...hello A2

Jetta Coupé? Never came across that one. Or is this just what they called the 2-door Jetta on your side of the pond?

Yours, Erik.

the 2-door Jetta on your side of the pond?

Same car. Never was called that by VW officially over here but some people like to informally call it a coupe and some like to call it a 2-door.

Ah. Thank you. So if you'd call this one a coupé:

Then what's this: SCNR, Erik, from a country where we do differentiate between a coupé and a 2-door sedan :-)

I'd call 'em both kinda ugly.

Probably not an official title, but coupes=2 door, and sedans=4 doors just about worldwide...

No, just over there where 2-door sedans have always been sort of rare. They used to be the standard car over here (Germany, and to a lesser extent Europe -- the French always had four doors even in cheap cars), and there's always been a clear distinction between a 2-door sedan and a coupé until about the 1980s. Since then, 2-door sedans have become increasingly rare; in fact, the only recent one I can think of right now is the Seat Cordoba, but the 2-door sedan seems to have been discontinued with the recent model change:

Here's a photo of the 2-door Cordoba SX: No, it is *not* a hatchback. Yes, I know it looks like one. And yes, there is VW content in this message: that Cordoba was in fact the same car as the VW Polo Sedan ("Polo Classic"), model years 1994(?)-2003. The VW flavour only came as a 4-door though (and a wagon: the Seat Cordoba Vario/VW Polo Variant). But VW made plenty of 2-door sedans in the past: Polo/Derby, Jetta, Fox, Audi 80/Fox/4000, Audi 100/5000 even, Audi 60/72/80/90, and of course the air-cooled VW 1500/1600 and

411/412.

Of course, a car that is available *only* as a 2-door (such as the original aircooled VW Bug) might be called either a coupé or a 2-door sedan. But if there are either a) both a 2-door and a 4-door, or b) two different 2-doors, one with a lower and/or shorter roof, then it's wrong to call the 2-door (in case b), the one with the longer and/or higher roof) a coupé.

Sorry for nitpicking, Erik.

They're both Coupe's... at least to me they are.

Heh heh. Now take a second look: they're both versions of the exact same type of car. It's the Opel Rekord "D" series, built in the early to mid-1970s. First picture shows a two-door sedan, second a coupé. The only actual differences are in the roofline and windows. Even the door skins and rear fenders are identical up to the beltline.

Which goes to show that there is a remarkable difference between a

2-door sedan and a coupé, even if you can't always tell where exactly the line between them is drawn.

BTW, those cars are not luxurious, they used to be standard "yum cha" family cars in their day: large but not upscale nor especially refined, and relatively cheap to buy and run, much like a Mondeo in Europe today (or a Taurus in the US, I think). Engines from 1700cc to 2800cc, with the six cylinder models named the "Commodore" instead of "Rekord" and with a little more chrome and imitation wood and whatnot, but still nowhere near a Mercedes or BMW with regard to their prestige value. Typical GM stuff, in other words. ;-) (My daddy used to drive a Commodore 2.5, and it sure was fun to drive ... but it used to rust almost as fast as it used to run.)

Yours, Erik.

SO even you say they really dont exist anymore, and havent pretty much for the last 20 years. You have shown a model or two, which looked like old

80's or even 70's models, but that doesnt make it the norm, even for Europe. Most cars, where applicable, came in 3 or 4 flavors, 2 door coupe, 4 door sedan, 2 door hatchback, or wagon, well I almost forgot convertibles....

In US-speak, a coupe = 2-door sedan, if it has no pillars or window frames, then we call it a "hardtop" (short for "hardtop convertible.")

don't ask me, I'm just tellin' ya...

nate

But the fact remains, a 2-door Jetta is not a coupé. Sorry.

Cars that were available as both 2-door sedans and coupés, with notably different bodies, since the 1970s:

Audi 100 Mk1 Audi 80/4000 Mk2 Opel Kadett B and C/Vauxhall Chevette Opel Rekord C and D Opel Commodore A and B Ford Taunus 17m P7 Ford Taunus 15m P5 Ford Granada/Consul Ford Taunus Mk1 Alfa Romeo Alfasud

Cars that were available as both 2-door sedans and 4-door sedans, with equal bodies in all other respects (and hence, no coupés), since the

1970s:

VW Jetta Mk1 and Mk2 VW Passat/Dasher Mk1 Audi 80/Fox Mk1 Audi 100/5000 Mk2 Opel Corsa A Opel Ascona B and C Opel Rekord E Ford Escort Mk1 and Mk2 Seat Cordoba Mk1

Certainly plenty more. And I'm not even listing any hatchbacks, they'd be far too numerous to list -- yet the same principles apply there too, There are 2-door hatchback sedans, and there are hatchback coupés as well. Think Passat/Quantum Mk2 2-door hatch vs. Scirocco Mk2. They're not all that different in their looks (discounting size for a moment), yet the availability of the 4-door Passat/Quantum with the exact same body outline makes its 2-door counterpart a hatchback, not a coupé.

It's not that easy. I'll say there are some body styles that can be either a 2-door or a 4-door: sedan, fastback, hatchback, and wagon. There are also some that can normally only be a 2-door: coupé, fastback coupé, hatchback coupé, convertible, roadster, and shooting break. And there are *lots* that are really category defying: fourgonette, pick-up truck, SUV, 4-door coupé (done in distant days by Rover, and shortly to be revived by Mercedes and Porsche), mid-engined anything, minivan, VW Bug, convertible sedan/ragtop, phaeton/Kübelwagen, etc etc, all the way up to the Citroen C3 Pluriel that is a 2-door hatchback, convertible sedan, real convertible, and open-cab pickup truck all rolled into one.

But there's really not much point in going on about this. Point is: not every 2-door is a coupé, any more than every VW is a Jetta.

Yours, Erik.

every 2-door is a coupé, any more than every VW is a Jetta.

I'd have to disagree, at least depending on where you look.

According to websters.com, the 2-door Jetta would qualify as either a coupe or sedan.

Contrary to what others have mentioned, you now own a Golf with a trunk.

Into my '89 Wolfsburg (Golf with a trunk) went a close-ratio (i.e., GTI 9A) with tall 5th and a GTI computer (passes emissions with flying colours). A set of used Apex lowering springs with the free-length cut (~10 cm drop) and cheap Tokico's make the car go as fast as the local Mom's-money-tuned-the-automatic-rice-mobiles. That's right, the springs made the car faster ;-)

Oh yes, the tranny was painted Chevy orange when I had it apart and the cam cover blue. Watch out for the 2nd gear crunch.

Darryl.

--------- Tom Flynn I speak only for myself

characteristics of my 2000 Golf, but as I get older, I appreciate the softer ride (lots more speedbumps around!) and the other creature comforts

Agreed. 7 years ago I would have laughed at the idea of, say, wood trim or chrome interior door handles in a vehicle. Now I think it looks nice.

For whatever reason the A3s and A4s to me don't feel any bigger overall, but it feels like there's more room in front and less in back, as if they switched the room from 60/40 to 70/30 or something.

know which direction I pushed the stalk).

Amen! I love the old single-indicator on the dash...sort of a little VW trademark, now gone.

Actually, you are right, each new model generation the front seats are moved back by about an inch... I went to Carpoint and for an A2 its like 40in up front and 35in in back, A3 is 41/34 and A4 is 42/33 - My old Golf could hold me and 3 of my buddies, no sweat.... 4 in a pinch, and no one complained! They said it was "okay"... Now the 3 wide situation never happens, unless it's a dire need situation... And even so I rarely ever carry more then one passenger, cuz no one wants to cram in the back of my car, hell the other day it was me and a buddy in my car, and the other four in a Toyota Tercel (.... I don't think that car has more room tho, seems smaller)

The only problem I have with it is that I'd like it centered in the cluster of idiot lights and not off to one side. Oh well.

were OFF on the outside of the car

Yep...flashes "opposite".