Originally Posted by Ragamuffin
Did you mean to say the reverse ? A coupe is always without a post !
RRHemi was correct. A hardtop
does not have a center post. See the following definition from Wikipedia (especially the last paragraph):
"The other
automotive usage of the term "hardtop" is a body style known as the
hardtop convertible. A hardtop convertible is a
fixed-roof model designed to look like a convertible with the top raised. While some early models retained side window frames and
B-pillars, by the
1950s most were
pillarless hardtops, omitting the B-pillar (the roof support behind the front doors) and configuring the window frames, if any, to retract with the glass when lowered. Some hardtops took the convertible look even further, including such details as simulating a convertible-top framework in the interior headliner and shaping the roof to resemble a raised canvas top. By the late
1960s such modifications were often superseded by a simple
vinyl roof.
A pillarless hardtop is inherently less rigid than a pillared body, requiring extra underbody strength to prevent shake. Production hardtops commonly shared the
frame or reinforced body structure of the contemporary convertible model, which was already reinforced to compensate for the lack of a fixed roof. With such a reinforced frame, a hardtop was stronger and stiffer than a convertible, but both weaker and (because of the reinforcements) heavier than a pillared body.
There were a variety of hardtop-like body styles dating back to at least the
1920s. Chrysler Corporation showed a pillarless Town and Country hardtop coupe as a concept vehicle in 1946, but the car never went into production. The trend-setter for mass-production hardtops was
General Motors, which launched two-door, pillarless hardtops in
1949 as the
Buick Roadmaster Riviera,
Oldsmobile 98 Holiday, and
Cadillac Coupe de Ville. They were purportedly inspired by the wife of a Buick executive who always drove convertibles, but never lowered the top. The hardtop became extremely popular in the
1950s, and by
1956 automakers offered hardtop
coupés and four-door
sedans in a particular model lineup. In 1957, the first four-door hardtop
station wagon was introduced by
Rambler and this type of body design was soon offered by other automakers.
Throughout the
1960s the two-door pillarless hardtop was by far the most popular body style in most lines where such a model was offered. Even on family vehicles like the
Chevrolet Impala, the two-door hardtop regularly outsold four-door sedans.
The hardtop began to disappear along with convertibles in the mid-
1970s, partly out of a concern that U.S. federal safety regulations would be difficult for pillarless models to pass. The ascendancy of
monocoque construction also made the pillarless design less practical. Some models adopted modified roof styling, placing the B pillars behind tinted side window glass and painting or molding the outer side of each pillar in black to make them less visible, creating a hardtop look without actually omitting the pillar. Some mid to late 1970s models continued their previous two-door hardtop bodies, but with fixed rear windows or a variety of vinyl roof and
opera window treatments.
The U.S. industry's last true two-door and four-door hardtops were in the 1978
Chrysler Newport and
New Yorker lines. Since then, no U.S. manufacturer has offered a true hardtop in regular production, although some German manufacturers, including
BMW and
Mercedes-Benz have offered upscale pillarless hardtops. Many Japanese domestic cars, particularly from
Toyota and
Nissan, are offered in hardtop form.
The body style may be due to return, however, as concept versions of the
Dodge Challenger and
Chevrolet Camaro shown in 2006 were both two-door hardtops, as well as a 2007 model concept for the
Chrysler 300C."
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