<VV> Sport Sedans (4 door hardtops)

[Bill H.]

                                                                          B"H

Carl:  You are no doubt aware that many Canadian market 4 door hardtops made it to the Australian market back in the 1960s.  For example, GM Holden marketed the Pontiac Parisienne 4 door hardtop in the late 1960s.  It was RHD, used a modified version of the 1965 Impala dash, and (at least in 1968) had a Chevy Impala steering wheel but with a Pontiac "arrowhead" emblem.

The 1965-73 Aussie Dodge Phoenix 4 door hardtop was basically a Plymouth Fury III but with a RHD Dodge Monaco/Polara instrument panel.

Of course Impala 4 door hardtops were also sold Down Under in the 1960s as you mentioned.  The 1965-1968 models had the same modified 1965 Impala dash as the Parisienne, and with RHD and the steering wheel that was used in North America for that year.  That was good for 1967 and later cars since they had the energy-absorbing safety feature!

A while back there was a photo of a 1965 Corvair LM Sport Sedan in South Africa that was also modified for RHD, but as far as I know, no Corvairs came from the factory with an original RHD package.

In New York State, all hardtops are registered as "sedans" with the DMV.  My '66 is registered as a "4DSD" and my late '69 was a "2DSD."  

My take is that before hardtops become widespread in the Fifties, a "sedan" was a closed-bodied car with front and rear seats regardless of how many doors it had, or whether it had a "B" post or not.  The 1920 Lexington "Lex-Sedan" had removable "B" posts and side windows, but was marketed as a "sedan" nevertheless.  

In the Sixties, manufacturers referred to pillared models as  "Sedans" and pillarless closed cars as "Hardtops," but that was a Sixties thing.  Ford put thin-pillar "B" posts on some of their big four-door cars in the early 1970s and called them "Pillared Hardtops."  They had no frames around the door glass.  These were added to the existing line which included the pillarless 4 door hardtops.

Each manufacturer had their own designations for marketing their body styles, so in the end, I guess it's matter of personal preference.

Best regards...Bill Hershkowitz