Touring car: Difference between revisions
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==Tourer (U.K.)== |
==Tourer (U.K.)== |
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The British tourer, as [[#Description|an open car with minimal weather protection]], is similar to the touring car, and the terms have been considered interchangeable;<ref name="NEMCp685" /><ref name="EAAp217" /> However, not all definitions specify tourers to have four or more seats,<ref name="NEMCp685" /><ref name="Macquarie" /> |
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| caption1 = 1927 [[Austin 20]] Tourer (front). Due to the lack of side windows, this is not considered to be an all-weather tourer |
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| image2 = 1951 Ford Anglia A494A Tourer (28545161011).jpg |
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In the United Kingdom and several [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries, the term "tourer" was used for open cars with minimal weather protection. In some cases, "tourer" is interchangeable with the U.S. term "touring car".<ref name="NEMCp685" /><ref name="EAAp217" /> However, unlike touring car, not all definitions of tourer specify that the car has four or more seats.<ref name="NEMCp685" /><ref name="Macquarie" /> For example, two-door cars called "sports tourers" were marketed in Australia tourers. |
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|title=1927 Austin 20 with tourer body—a typical example<br>this car is not an all-weather tourer |
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|File:Austin 20 tourer 1927 (10251793113).jpg| |
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{{see also|Morgan Four Seater}} |
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==Torpedo body== |
===Torpedo body=== |
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{{Main|Torpedo (car)}} |
{{Main|Torpedo (car)}} |
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[[File:Humber 11 Torpedo style 1944cc registered April 1914.JPG|thumb|1914 [[Humber Limited|Humber 11]] [[torpedo (car)|torpedo]]. The straight line from the radiator to the back of the car makes this an example of a torpedo body]] |
[[File:Humber 11 Torpedo style 1944cc registered April 1914.JPG|thumb|1914 [[Humber Limited|Humber 11]] [[torpedo (car)|torpedo]]. The straight line from the radiator to the back of the car makes this an example of a torpedo body]] |
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Revision as of 22:49, 9 November 2018
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2011) |
A touring car is an open car seating four or more. A popular car body style in the early twentieth century, it declined in popularity in the 1920s when closed bodies became less expensive and more practical.
The cars used for touring car racing in various series since the 1960s are unrelated to these early touring cars, despite sharing the same name.
A tourer, in the UK and the Commonwealth, is a similar vehicle; however, the term is sometimes used to describe pre-war two-seaters which, in US terminology, would be roadsters. The term "all-weather tourer" was used to describe open vehicles that could be fully enclosed.
A popular version of the touring car style was the torpedo, with the hood/bonnet line at the car's waistline giving the car a straight line from front to back. This eventually became the normal version of the touring car, and the term "torpedo" fell out of use, having been replaced by the hardtop.
Touring car (U.S.)
Design
"Touring car" was applied in the U.S. to open cars (cars without a fixed roof, for example convertibles) that seat four or more people and has direct entrance to the tonneau (rear passenger area),[1] although it has also been described as seating five or more people.[2] Touring cars may have two or four doors, and the drivetrain layouts of early touring cars was either front engined or mid-engined.
When the top was folded down, it formed a bulky mass known as the "fan" behind the back seat: "fan covers" were made to protect the top and its wooden ribs while in the down position. Some touring cars were available with side curtains to protect occupants from wind and weather by snapping or zipping them into place; otherwise, the occupants had minimal weather protection.
History
The touring car body style was popular in the early 20th century, being a larger alternative to the two-seat runabout and the roadster. By the mid-1910s, the touring car body had evolved into several types, including the four-door touring car which was equipped with a convertible top.[3][4]
Most of Model T's produced by Ford between 1908 and 1927 were four and then three-door models (with drivers sliding behind the wheel from passenger seat) touring cars, accounting for 6,519,643 cars sold out of the 15,000,000 estimated Model T's built. This accounted for 44% of all Model T's sold over the model's eighteen-plus year life span, making it the most popular body style.[citation needed]
The popularity of the touring car began to wane in the 1920s when cars with enclosed passenger compartments (i.e. fixed steel roofs) became more affordable, and began to consistently out-sell the open cars.[5]
Tourer (U.K.)
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In the United Kingdom and several Commonwealth countries, the term "tourer" was used for open cars with minimal weather protection. In some cases, "tourer" is interchangeable with the U.S. term "touring car".[6][7] However, unlike touring car, not all definitions of tourer specify that the car has four or more seats.[6][8] For example, two-door cars called "sports tourers" were marketed in Australia tourers.
The belt lines of tourers were often lowered in the front doors to give the car a more sporting character.[8]
"All-weather tourer" was used for open four-door cars with high quality tops and winding windows;[6] these vehicles were later called convertibles.[9]
Torpedo body
The torpedo body style was a type of touring body used from the early 20th century until the mid-1920s. A torpedo's hood (bonnet) line was level with the car's waistline, giving a straight line from front to back.[10]
The torpedo body style was usually fitted to 4- or 5-seat cars and was a touring car with detachable or folding top (hood) and low side panels and doors, but no B pillars: the only uprights present were those supporting the windshield (windscreen).[citation needed]
The torpedo style became the normal style of touring car and the name fell into disuse around 1920.[7]
See also
- Barchetta – an Italian style of roadster or spyder developed for racing cars after World War II
- Phaeton body – similar to a touring car, but initially lighter and more sporting
- Runabout – a light, open two-seat car, similar to a roadster but with emphasis on economy instead of performance.
References
- ^ "What's What in Automobile Bodies Officially Determined" (pdf). The New York Times. New York, NY USA. Nomenclature Division, Society of Automobile Engineers. August 20, 1916. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
Here it is, with other body types and distinctions, officially determined recently by the Nomenclature Division of the Society of Automobile Engineers:
- ^ Stein, Jess, ed. (1975) [1968]. The Random House College Dictionary (Revised ed.). New York, NY USA: Random House. p. 1389. ISBN 0-394-43600-8.
touring car, an open automobile designed for five or more passengers.
- ^ "1927 Ford Model T Touring (Fifteen-Millionth Ford)". www.historicvehicle.org. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ "The Automobiles". www.fountainheadmuseum.com. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ Ullman, William (1930-01-19). "Show Reflects Car's Progress – Dawn of New Decade Finds Motordom Has Made Gigantic Strides". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, PA USA. Automobile Section. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
Interest was centered in the development of low-priced closed models in every automobile factory in the country and the rapid decline of the open car was apparent on all sides.
- ^ a b c Georgano, G. N.; Andersen, Thorkil Ry (1982-10-21) [1973]. Georgano, G. N. (ed.). The New encyclopedia of motorcars, 1885 to the present (3rd ed.). Dutton. p. 685. ISBN 0-5259-3254-2. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help); Invalid|ref=harv(help) - ^ a b Georgano, G. N., ed. (1971). "Glossary". Encyclopedia of American Automobiles. New York, NY USA: E. P. Dutton. p. 217. ISBN 0-525-097929. LCCN 79-147885. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
- ^ a b Davis, Pedr., ed. (1986). The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring. Sydney, Australia: Macquarie Library. p. 485. ISBN 0-949757-35-7.
- ^ Georgano & Andersen 1982, p. 683.
- ^ Roberts, Peter (1974). "Carriage to Car". Veteran and Vintage Cars. London, UK: Octopus Books. p. 111. ISBN 0-7064-0331-2.
Torpedo – Continental term for an open four-seat tourer with soft hood and sporting tendencies and in which the line of the bonnet was continued back to the rear of the car.