[LT1ornothing]

Originally Posted by lt4camaro

You may not be old enough, but back in the day starting in the late 40s it was either a 2 dr hardtop or a 2 dr sedan, a 4 dr hardtop or a 4 dr sedan. Hardtop meaning no center post that went up to the roof separating the door openings. A 2 door sedan had a center post that separated the door opening from the 1/4 window. Eventually 2 dr sedan cars were being referenced as 2 dr post cars. The coupe phrase started in the 30s and lasted into 40s.

Correct, most certainly am not old enough. My most vintage vehicles were 1980s. As I learned about cars as a child:
2 doors = coupe
3 doors = hatchback
4 doors = sedan
5 doors = station wagon
Maybe the lingo was different 70+ years ago.

[lt4camaro]

Originally Posted by LT1ornothing

Correct, most certainly am not old enough. My most vintage vehicles were 1980s. As I learned about cars as a child:
2 doors = coupe
3 doors = hatchback
4 doors = sedan
5 doors = station wagon
Maybe the lingo was different 70+ years ago.

As far as GM is concerned, there were no more 2 dr hardtops after approx 1973, 4 dr hardtops were around till about 1976. After that a 4 dr was just a 4dr or a sedan and a 2 dr was just a 2 dr or a coupe. BTW a wagon was always a wagon and there were 3 door wagons. Also there were and are 2 dr hatchbacks, there also was and are 4dr hatchbacks. My guess we are a solid 30+ years apart , but car guys/girls , enthusiasts etc, should all be able to communicate and get along. I started in auto industry part time in 1965, retired from the auto industry 2011

[Chutzpah]

Originally Posted by LT1ornothing

Correct, most certainly am not old enough. My most vintage vehicles were 1980s. As I learned about cars as a child:
2 doors = coupe
3 doors = hatchback
4 doors = sedan
5 doors = station wagon
Maybe the lingo was different 70+ years ago.

Oh come one now Lets try to be nice…I was totally on board with you, until I was just educated on the reference. (By LT4Camaro)

My dad occasionally calls super unleaded “high test”. I know he knows it’s an outdated term, but he occasionally slips up. Regardless, I know what he means….who am I to correct him?

As I grow older, I very much have a better understanding of what it means to respect you elders

[LT4Greg]

I catch myself calling 93 octane gas High Test or Supreme most of the time now.

[lt4camaro]

Originally Posted by Chutzpah

Oh come one now Lets try to be nice…I was totally on board with you, until I was just educated on the reference. (By LT4Camaro)

My dad occasionally calls super unleaded “high test”. I know he knows it’s an outdated term, but he occasionally slips up. Regardless, I know what he means….who am I to correct him?

As I grow older, I very much have a better understanding of what it means to respect you elders

Yes indeed, high test was what we called the high octane stuff . Today its easy to just refer to gas by octane... even for a 73 year old. 87, 89, 91 and 93 and remember there is not much 93 octane out west LOL.

[lt4camaro]

Originally Posted by LT1ornothing

I really did not want to be "that guy" but:
A sedan = 4 doors
A coupe = 2 doors

Here ya go right out of hemmings

[pwj155]

Having been around in the '50s, '60s and '70s and being crazy about cars I have to agree with LT4camaro on this subject. We also called premium gas high test. Sorry if anyone disagrees, but that's the way it was. There were also some, not many, hardtop station wagons.

[RamAir02]

Ah it can totally be confusing! lt4camaro, since you mentioned having a 442, you probably know the difference between a Holiday Coupe and a Sport Coupe

And Mercedes has been calling some of their 4 door models "coupes" for the last several years. Now that one I can't get on board with

BTW, I'm in my mid-30s and I do sometimes call 93 octane "high test". Habit I picked up from my dad. I actually typically say "fill it up Super" more than anything else. I'm not sure if that's a common thing to say, but it always translates fine to the gas attendant. (I'm in NJ so we don't pump our own gas )

[LeonardS]

Originally Posted by pwj155

Having been around in the '50s, '60s and '70s and being crazy about cars I have to agree with LT4camaro on this subject. We also called premium gas high test. Sorry if anyone disagrees, but that's the way it was. There were also some, not many, hardtop station wagons.

High octane around me was called “Ethel”. I can hear my parents telling the gas station attendant, “fill it up with Ethel”.

[pwj155]

Originally Posted by LeonardS

High octane around me was called “Ethel”. I can hear my parents telling the gas station attendant, “fill it up with Ethel”.

Ha! Yes LeonardS I remember my dad and his friends calling it Ethel too.

[LT4Greg]

Same here too and I think it was spelled Ethyl. ��

[LeonardS]

Originally Posted by LT4Greg

Same here too and I think it was spelled Ethyl. ��

Yes, you are correct!

[Razor Edge Customs]

Originally Posted by pwj155

Having been around in the '50s, '60s and '70s and being crazy about cars I have to agree with LT4camaro on this subject. We also called premium gas high test. Sorry if anyone disagrees, but that's the way it was. There were also some, not many, hardtop station wagons.

I was born in '83 and grew up in Central GA. Everyone I have ever known has referred to 93 as high test here. Also, I worked at a car dealership and never knew a sedan could have two doors. Learn somethin' new every day

[lt4camaro]

Originally Posted by Razor Edge Customs

I was born in '83 and grew up in Central GA. Everyone I have ever known has referred to 93 as high test here. Also, I worked at a car dealership and never knew a sedan could have two doors. Learn somethin' new every day

Different parts of the country, different slang I think. the high test reference was pretty much gone here in the Northeast when you were born. Premium was used for the good stuff and regular was always regular. Regular used to be 95 octane and premium was always 100+. The method for octane rating then was different. Born in 1949, and a car nut since I can remember, The sedan reference here in New England kind of evolved describing a body style when 2 and 4 dr hardtops came into the picture. Growing up we called called 4 dr cars 4 dr cars, and 2dr cars were called 2 dr cars. Yes, the word sedan was heard as well as coupe, but I think sedan was used more to describe those big formal caddy and other makes to differentiate them compared to a regular 4 dr everyday common mans car. In the late 40s and surely by the 50s, 4dr and 2dr hardtops evolved and now the cars that had full door frames surrounding the door glass and a post that was in the middle of the car that went all the way up to the roof in both 2 and 4 dr configurations were called sedans to differentiate them from 2 and 4 dr hardtops.