Old Cars. thoughts?

[Brandon]

Another car that has basically gone extinct is the two door sedan.

Eh? I thought by definition sedan = 4 door and coupe = 2 door.

If that's not it, then what's the difference?

A coupe is two doors by definition.  However, a sedan is (or used to be) defined by window style.  A sedan has a frame around the window as opposed to a hardtop which does not.

[Alps]

Another car that has basically gone extinct is the two door sedan.

Eh? I thought by definition sedan = 4 door and coupe = 2 door.

If that's not it, then what's the difference?

My understanding was that the cutoff was based on rear seat space. The old Honda Accord 2-doors were sedans.

[Takumi]

Or used cars.  That's probably what I'll end up doing, is buying a nice used coupe.

Still not many FWD 6MT 2-doors out there, though. Civic Si, Accord EX-L V6 coupe, Altima coupe, Honda Integra Acura RSX Type-S (liftback), last generation Mitsubishi Eclipse GT (V6). I didn't include Toyotas because I know you would, and I quote, "rather die than drive a Toyota". But everything I could think of was Japanese companies with those criteria. I think there's a GTI that may fit that as well.

[PHLBOS]

I thought by definition sedan = 4 door and coupe = 2 door.

If that's not it, then what's the difference?

A coupe is two doors by definition.  However, a sedan is (or used to be) defined by window style.  A sedan has a frame around the window as opposed to a hardtop which does not.

^^This.  Prior to the 1980s there were many more hardtops and pillared hardtops around/produced.  Heck, many station wagons (another long lost style) were pillared hardtops in the 70s and there were even some hardtop wagons in the late 50s/early 60s.

Hardtops and pillared hardtops are typically identified by the doors not having frames around the windows.  When the windows are down/open; only the door sticks out when opened.  Similar to doors of a convertible. 

A full hardtop has no B-pillar (which separates the front-side & rear-side (if equipped) windows); when all the windows are down, there's no pillar obstructing the view (a plus for tall drivers or ones that drive with the seat all the way back).  Again, convertibles were similar in this regard as well.

A pillared hardtop, a design that first appeared in the mid-to-late 60s, was more of a compromise between a (full) hardtop and a conventional sedan in that there were no door frames present but there were B-pillars.

Today, most pillared hardtops are typically 2-doors (rear-side window or no rear-side window) and I believe Mercedes currently has 2 coupe models that are pure hardtops that aren't hardtop-convertibles.

Until recently, nearly all Subaru 4-doors and wagons/SUVs/CUVs were pillared hardtops.  I believe the last 4-door hardtops (aka hardtop-sedans) were the full-size 1978 Chrysler Newports & New Yorkers.

I hope this helps/clarifies things.