Brit saloon car driver Gerry Marshall recently died. What the hell is a "saloon car"?

I've never heard of it, either, neveu, but there are 779,000 sites for it listed in Google. It apparently has something to do with cars, but our Brits will have to fill us in.

A saloon car is a design that follows the traditional '3-box' format, that being a car with a bonnet (hood), main body and boot (trunk). In this country the saloon car is not generally as popular as a hatchback unless it is an upmarket car like a Jaguar or BMW etc. Saloon cars are usually associated with older drivers.

A saloon is what you in the USA call a sedan. No more, no less.

Somewhere here we discussed the differences in automotive terms between UK and US English before, but I've no idea where. I've always been amused by the mental picture of a British "drop-head" motor car! Sounds like a travelling guillotine!

But why is it called saloon?

And what is a drop-head?

I can barely keep all the US car terms in my head, and now you're telling me new ones? Crikey!

Why is it called a saloon? Why do we call it a sedan? A drop-head is a convertible to us. Now, can any of my fellow Amerracuns tell me where you'd find a gudgeon in your car?

At one time there were dozens of different body styles - more so in luxury vehicles and probably for longer in the UK than the USA. Just a few from the top of my head:

Limousine; doctor's coupe, sedanca de ville, viz a viz, Roi de Belge, sports saloon, drop-head coupe, fixed head coupe, sports tourer - and many more.

There's a useful site here http://www.buyclassiccars.com/glossary.asp that gives many definitions of automotive terms.

And we have gudgeons in our cars in the UK, as well (and our motorcycles). Of course, in the USA they have a different appellation.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Richard English,

Don't know about gudgeons, but the curmudgeon sometimes drives (when I let him.)

the following link is to a page of automotive body names...

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Car+body+style&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1

it would seem that the term sedan came from 'sedan chair'. the earliest automobiles were open carriaged or soft-top (like the model t ford). as car-making technology expanded, completely enclosed cars became popular, and the name sedan, referring to being a roofed/enclosed form of transport. as for the origins of saloon, i can only guess that it is a derivative of the french salon and refers to the saloons' large enclosed seating capacity, salon meaning 'hall'.

beans

Beans, welcome! I have wanted an Australian member who is a regular here...for ages now! Virge posts here once in awhile, but surely not regularly. Can we count on you?

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A saloon is what you in the USA call a sedan.

Actually, Richard, as you know, a "saloon" to us is a "bar."

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Originally posted by Caterwauller:
Don't know about gudgeons, but the curmudgeon sometimes drives (when I let him.)

And do you sometimes sit on the curmudgeon's gudgeons?

RE, the Roi de Belge is the only one with which I'm unfamiliar. Hmmmm... a royal belch? Or is that a king of Belgium? Nah, he wouldn't need a car, he'd just hook Eddy Merkx to his wagon!

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Or is that a king of Belgium?

It was, indeed, a style designed for His Majesty and was copied by other coachbuilders. Roi de Belge coachwork is much sought after.

There is a picture here of a very nice Rolls-Royce 40/50 with Roi de Belge coachwork http://www.crailville.com/coach/rolls/rolls11/

I once used "Arizona on back roads" to explore that beautiful state. It often said "can be done in sedan". The number of exhausts (mufflers) at the side of the road testified to his optimism.
Gudgeons form part of the stearing rack I think.

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Gudgeons form part of the stearing rack I think.

In US terms, a gudgeon is a pin connecting two parts. Having spent twenty-four years as an automobile mechanic, mostly with British and European cars, I became familiar with the different expressions used by British, German, French, and Italian cars. Gudgeons are most often referred to as "wrist pins" in US cars. That's the part that holds the pistons to the connecting rods, if anyone cares.

Mercedes-Benz used to refer to the rubber rings suporting their silencers (mufflers over here) as "muffler bearings." That was a long-standing joke among US of Americans.