Automobile Body Styles and Design

Part One of Two

Automobile Body Styles

Coupes- Coupes are often the sporty types of cars. The doors are reduced from 4 to 2.The coupe body style ranges from car maker to car maker. There are now even four-door coupes like the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class. ‘Coupe' comes from the French verb ‘couper'. This means ‘to cut'. An example of a two-door coupe is the Audi A5.

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Convertible- A convertible, is a body style with a retractable roof. These cars often have canvas roofs, though today these are also made of plastic, aluminium or steel. Convertibles are usually two-door cars. An example of such a car is the BMW Z4.

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Pickup- A pickup is a light motor vehicle with an open rear cargo area known as a ‘bed'. They are extremely popular in the US. Pickup also applies to coupe utility vehicles, where they are based on a car chassis or a dedicated platform. Pickups are called ‘utes' in Australia and New Zealand. They are often available with two or four doors for the passengers. An example of a pickup is the Tata Xenon.

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SUV- An SUV, means 'Sports Utility Vehicle', is similar to an estate, but usually bigger and higher off the ground. SUV's are often offered with four-wheel-drive and are designed for both on- and off-road use. Some have the towing capacity of a pickup, and offer the passenger carrying capacity of a minivan or large sedan. An example of an SUV is the Ford Endeavour.

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Hatchback- A hatchback is a car with a sloping back and a hinged rear door that opens towards the sky. These cars range from SUVs, MPVs or vans. They are usually much more compact. Hatchbacks usually have seating for four to five people is most likely a tight squeeze. An example of a hatchback is the Maruti Suzuki Swift.

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Part Two of Two

Automobile Design

1. It takes ten years to design a car and they start off with the sketching phase that is mostly done on the computer.

2.  Design is called problem solving because they have to find a design that is pleasing to everyone with no flaws.

3. The feasibility stage is when they take their sketches and make sure they can actually be done and match up with the engineering. This is the largest part to designing a car and is where all the negotiating comes in play.

4. I don't think designing an automobile would interest me because it's a very stressful job and you need to be creative with your ideas.