BODY STYLES

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1078, 16 September 1930, Page 6

BODY STYLES

NEED FOR STANDARDISING j 22 NAMES IN FRANCE There seems to be real need for international standardisation of | automobile body styles. During ! recent months body-builders in France, the United States and Eng- \ land have brought out systems of | body nomenclature, and they cor- j respond in the naming of but a few models. Frequently, even, as in the ease of the coupe, for example, the name of a body style in one country means something entirely different in another 1 country.. In'the United States a coupe is a single-seat closed car, with a permanent top; in France, it is a semienclosed job -with the driver's compartment open and the passengers contained in a cab. There are other similar instances. Comparison of the French, American and English systems of body nomenclature reveals that the French is the most complete. The Chambre Syndicate des Carrossiers has worked out a system of 22 separate designs, based on the numbers and position of doors and windows, which can he expanded,by the addition of convertible roofs and tail sections, to make 54 distinctly different models, each readily recognised at a glance. The criticism that could be made of the French system of nomenclature is that it is a little technical for sales purposes. It does not offer easy „ model names for salesmen and buyers, but is more adapted to custom work. Automobiles are divided into four general ca-tagories—permanently enclosed cars, convertible, or all-weather cars, open cars, and cars with 1 chauffers. Addition of a tail piece ! puts all models automatically in the sport class, the word sport being merely added to the regular model name. The possibility of installing a removable roof over the chauffeur’s compartment makes the model a halfenclosed car. [ The American system, as brought out . by the Society of Automotive En- , gineers, is more simple, if less complete. It includes 16 body styles, most of them closed. Of the number; ! , 10 are really basic in design, the sport j roadster, sport-coupe, sport-imperial-1 phaeton, touring car, landaulet-sedan, | ■ and town car being only modifications j , of standard models. It contains but two models for chauffeurs, which are j so popular in Europe. One of the significant features of the * American system is the great predominance of closed models. Open and convertible types are not used naarly so much in the United States as in t England and on the Continent, where f the climate is milder. t In England particularly, open and i all-weather models are popular. Of the 20 types officially recognised by t the British Engineering Standards ] Association, only four are permanently - closed jobs. The others are all open - or convertible. Nothing could he more j indicative of the British love of the open air and desire to see the country. England is also noted for the number of motorists who use automobiles i for touring and camping purposes. ; Hitching a trailer carrying tent and < utensils on behind one’s car, and going < off on a tour is very popular in Eng- < land. ' !