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"Coupe," from the French carrosse coupé, meaning "cut carriage," was a four-wheel enclosed carriage with room for two passengers, with a driver out front.
When applied to motorcars, it means a 2-door car with a fixed roof, usually with four seats, but possibly with two.
"Hardtop" is a term from the early 1950s, applied to cars with no window frames on the doors, whose windows come up unframed and mate directly against seals on the body, which therefore allows for the absence of a B-pillar.
The design is the same as that of a convertible, except with a fixed roof, thus the term "hardtop."
I believe coupe and hardtop are 2 terms sometimes describing the same thing. Over the years, the description changed as manufacturing marketing played with the terms. For example the early hardtops could have been called pillarless sedans or convertible hardtops. A post car, can be a 2 door sedan or a 2 door post coupe. Over the years there were also 4 door hardtops, just to throw around another term.
"Hardtop" is actually short for "hardtop convertible." It specifically refers to a car with a fixed roof and no center pillar. Number of doors can be two or four.
In other words, it looks like a convertible, except it's not.
Hardtop is a car without a "B" pillar and without metal frames around the door windows. Hardtops can be 2dr, 4dr, or even wagons (as in the 1957 Olds Fiesta wagons).
Despite what German automakers may claim, a Coupe is a two door body. You can have a hardtop coupe (Holiday Coupe in Oldsspeak) or a coupe with posts (Sport Coupe in Oldsspeak). Note that two door cars with a post are sometimes called a two door sedan.
Note that two door cars with a post are sometimes called a two door sedan.
Gonna open up a can of worms here, but I don't consider a 1969 Olds 4-4-2 Sports Coupe a two-door sedan - a post coupe and two-door sedan can't always be interchanged. To be the latter, it will have a different roofline than that of the hardtop.
For a Brand X comparison, here's two Plymouth Belvederes, one a two-door hardtop, the other a two-door sedan:
Gonna open up a can of worms here, but I don't consider a 1969 Olds 4-4-2 Sports Coupe a two-door sedan - a post coupe and two-door sedan can't always be interchanged. To be the latter, it will have a different roofline than that of the hardtop.
Diego,
I'm talking about the general use of the term, not how one specific manufacturer used it (considering that German automakers use "coupe" to refer to four door cars ). If you look up dictionary definitions of coupe and sedan, the bottom line is that "coupe" is considered a subset of "sedans". A sedan can have two or four doors. A coupe has two doors. Both can carry at least four passengers. Some dictionaries go on to add that a coupe "usually has a sloping back". If you subscribe to that definition, then the 1964-67 A-body cars aren't technically coupes.
Bottom line is that this is in the same boat as defining "big block" and "small block". There is no legal definition.
Joe, that's not what I'm doing, which is why I made the can of worms reference.
Here's a Borgward two-door sedan and coupe:
Oldsmobile (and others) used the word "coupe" instead of sedan for the Sports Coupe with the B-pillar because they shared the same sleek roofline as the hardtop.
Joe, that's not what I'm doing, which is why I made the can of worms reference.
Here's a Borgward two-door sedan and coupe:
Oldsmobile (and others) used the word "coupe" instead of sedan for the Sports Coupe with the B-pillar because they shared the same sleek roofline as the hardtop.
Of course, a Toronado is a proper coupe.
Small world, I'm working on a Borgward Isabella Coupe right now, I had never seen nor heard of this make until a few weeks ago. I think the terms are a gray area depending on your age and location. Kinda like the term classic, clone, and tribute.
If confining oneself to the strictest use of the term, I'm afraid that Diego's definition and illustrations are correct, and that, specifically, the terms "sedan" and "coupe" (and, probably, "fastback") are mutually exclusive.
I think the presence of an unconscious awareness of this is borne out in the fact that one hears far more reference to "two-doors" than to "coupes" in general conversation.
That being said, at this point the can is open and the worms are out, and we are now down to splitting hairs. I think we've answered the original question on the distinction between the terms "coupe" and "hardtop."
). If you look up dictionary definitions of coupe and sedan, the bottom line is that "coupe" is considered a subset of "sedans". A sedan can have two or four doors. A coupe has two doors. Both can carry at least four passengers. Some dictionaries go on to add that a coupe "usually has a sloping back". If you subscribe to that definition, then the 1964-67 A-body cars aren't technically coupes. 
