Coupé

Coupé /koo-pay/ noun (countable)

A coupé is a type of car with a fixed-roof body style, characterised by having two doors and typically a sloping or truncated rear roofline. It is the automotive equivalent of a well-tailored sports jacket, a design that sacrifices practicality for a healthy dose of style. Traditionally, it is a saloon car made more svelte and sophisticated by removing the two rear doors in favour of a swooping roofline. The result is a deliberate statement of selfish glamour, a car that announces its owner has no need for the dreary convenience of giving lifts to more than one friend. Britain produced some legendary examples of such machines, from the sublime Jaguar E-Type to the brutish Ford Capri.

The Full Story of the Coupé

The name comes from the French verb "couper," meaning "to cut." It originally referred to 19th-century carriages where the body was shortened. This sense of a smaller, more intimate vehicle carried over into the automotive age, where the coupé was established as a stylish, streamlined car with a fixed roof. While the open-topped roadster was about elemental fun, the coupé offered a different kind of appeal: the refinement, quietness, and structural integrity of a closed car, but with a sporting appeal that a conventional four-door saloon could never match.

The domestic motor industry embraced the form enthusiastically, producing some of the finest examples ever made. At the very top end were the grand touring coupés, cars designed to cross continents at speed and in great comfort. The Aston Martin DB4, DB5, and DB6 defined the type, their elegant lines and powerful straight-six engines creating the definitive car for the gentleman spy. The Jensen Interceptor was another icon, a brutish but striking Anglo-American GT. The most celebrated of all, however, was the Jaguar E-Type Fixed-Head Coupé. With its impossibly long bonnet and side-hinged rear tailgate, it is considered by many to be the most beautiful car ever made.

The coupé was not just the preserve of the wealthy. British manufacturers also mastered the art of the affordable sporting coupé. Pininfarina turned the humble MGB roadster into the stylish MGB GT, a practical and elegant "hatchback coupé." Triumph created the GT6, a sleek and fast-swooping fastback version of its Spitfire roadster.

The undisputed king of the affordable coupé in Britain, however, was the Ford Capri. Launched in 1969 with the marketing slogan, "The car you always promised yourself," it was a masterstroke. It used the humble, reliable mechanicals of the Ford Cortina saloon but wrapped them in a stunning, long-bonnet, short-tail body that mimicked the look of an American pony car. It sold the dream of a glamorous, exotic car for the price of a sensible family runabout, and it became a cultural phenomenon that lasted for nearly two decades.

In the modern era, the classic two-door coupé is a rare breed, largely replaced in the public's affection by the ubiquitous SUV. The term itself has been cynically corrupted by marketing departments, who now apply it to four-door saloons with low rooflines and even to SUVs with hunchbacked profiles, much to the disgust of purists.

For The Record

What is the correct pronunciation?

The original French is "koo-pay". In Britain, this is the common pronunciation for high-end cars like a Rolls-Royce. For a more workaday car like a Ford Capri, it was often anglicised to just "koop." In America, it is almost universally "koop."

What is a "fastback"?

A fastback is a specific type of coupé where the rear roofline slopes down in a single, unbroken line from the roof to the tail of the car. The Ford Mustang and the later Ford Capri MkII and MkIII are classic fastbacks.

Is a coupé always a two-seater?

No. While some are strict two-seaters, like the original Jaguar E-Type FHC, many are "2+2s," with two proper front seats and two very small, token rear seats. These rear seats are generally suitable only for small children or, more often, as an overflow luggage area.

Why is a coupé more rigid than a convertible?

Because the fixed roof is a vital, load-bearing part of the car's monocoque structure. It connects the front and rear of the car and the left and right sides, forming a strong, closed box that is highly resistant to twisting. This gives it superior torsional rigidity.

Is a four-door "coupé" really a coupé?

No. Purists would argue vehemently that it is not. A coupé, by its historical and technical definition, has two doors. The term "four-door coupé" is a modern marketing invention used to describe a saloon with a more stylish, sloping roofline, less headroom, and a higher price tag.