Walking home from Hendricks Park with images of all those four door hardtops – real or Photoshopped – floating in my head, a thought suddenly intruded: What about European four door hardtops? I got very quiet, as I struggled to conjure up images of them all. “You’re a bit engrossed, obviously”. “Yup; sorry”. Life with a Curbsider; she’s used to it. “So why exactly are they called hardtops anyway?” Good tactical move, to get me engaged and talking again. So if my list is short because my train of thought was interrupted, we know who to blame. But seriously folks, this list must be longer than this, so I need some help.
The first one to come to mind was the superb Facel-Vega Excellence, and what a very excellent thought it was indeed.
A four suicide-door hardtop, exquisite styling, superbly built, and with a big stonking Chrysler hemi under the hood; jeez, this may be the ultimate four door hardtop ever. And from France, of all places. OK, try trotting out all those Frenchie car jokes now. All of 156 were ever built, between 1958 and 1964. Our list is off to an excellent start.
And by the way, there was an aborted effort to turn the Excellence into a high end Packard. Too bad. Also: the Excellence was first shown in 1956. You want to guess where the 1961 Lincoln Continental got at least a bit of its inspiration? Hmm.
So here’s number two: the Mercdes 300 d (W189), built from 1957 to 1962, and which I was quite aware of as a kid. No, the “d” does not stand for diesel. And in almost every respect, it was the polar opposite of the Excellence; or not, depending on what qualities we’re focusing on. Very German and very conservative, except for that hardtop. The 300 d was the final version of the post-war 300 series, and a superbly well built car indeed, as well as the forerunner of the legendary “Grosser” 600. But it was looking pretty dated for the times. A bit lacking in Excellence in the styling department, except for being the only hardtop ever lacking two pillars per side.
The 300 rode on an updated pre-war chassis, was very heavy, and used a civilized version of the 3 liter SOHC six that also powered the 300 SL. But perhaps its greatest claim to fame, at least in what we’re interested in here, is that all six side windows, including the one behind the rear door, dropped out of sight. To my knowledge, this is the only car that ever did that, unless I’m losing it.
So, dear readers, that’s my list. Short, but very sweet indeed. Two of the most superb cars ever, each four door hardtops. But I’m feeling a bit of unease; I have this nagging sense I’ve overlooked something. Perhaps a coach-built Rolls or Bentley. Or? There’s got to be more than two European four door hardtops. If not, we’ll have to enlist the aid of our resident photochpper to make us some. Mercedes w108? Peugeot 404? Humber Super Snipe?
I thought the 1956 Imperial 4 door hardtops rearmost glass folded into the second panel when the window rolled down for a rather glassless look?
Similar, but not quite the same. That third window in the 300 is completely behind the door. It’s really like a two-door hardtop coupe, with a middle door added.
Yeah, I think there was either a split plane door window or a channel, but it folded down also.
The vent window in the rear door, folded into the door.
Comparing the second Facel Vega to the Cadillac posted earlier, I think I really like the French approach to two-tone paint.
That Facel Vega Excellence is the most gorgeous ‘American’ car I’ve ever seen. Wow, just perfect. I’m not surprised it’s French, their culture has always had a unique passion for futuristic design. In the 1950’s the future look of luxury was American. This car beings French beauty to the American idioms. Fabulous.
No kidding about the later Continental, that’s obvious. Are the hexagons on the hubcaps coincidental, or evidence of that Packard hookup? How would this car have looked with a Packard-ized grille???
There’s a thorough article on this car with lots more details at the Wikipedia. “Inside, the car had a lavish interior with seats covered in aromatic leather, a fake walnut dashboard with full instrumentation, and a make up kit located in the back of the centre armrest, consisting of a chrome-handled brush and comb, and two perfume bottles, the latter albeit being supplied empty by the factory.”
Coincidental. It never got that far; as per wiki:
“Following the proposition of a New York based conglomerate wanting to revive the luxurious Packard brand in 1959, Facel-Vega boss Jean Daninos entered into negotiations with Studebaker-Packard Corporation president Harold Churchill. The idea was to badge-engineer the Excellence with Packard nameplates and the trademark Packard “Ox-Yoke” grille, and market it through the more “exclusive” Studebaker-Packard dealers in North America. However, Daimler-Benz, which already had a marketing partnership with Studebaker-Packard, using Studebaker’s dealership network to sell its Mercedes brand of cars in the United States, objected to the plan. Churchill realized that he could never get the same cash stream from Facel-Vega that he did from Daimler-Benz, and the whole project was abandoned. Despite the Facel-Vega Excellence-come-Packard in fact did make it to the to the planning stage, contrary to popular belief, not a single actual prototype was built. However, a number of Excellences were imported to the USA by private owners.”
So ironically, the two European four-door hardtops share even more history!
As soon as I saw the Adenauer Benz I scrolled down to the comments to see if the ironic connection between the two cars had been noted. Thanks Paul.
Whether the Facel Vega would have successfully brought Packard back to life is an open question, but in any event there should have been a way for a Packardized Facel-Vega and Mercedes-Benz to coexist. M-B can’t really have expected the Adenauer cars to sell in any volume in America. There was more of a chance that the market for the Ponton and Heckflosse cars could be developed. But at the time, those cars weren’t kitted out as luxury cars in the American idiom, and they certainly didn’t compete with the Excellence, which was up there in Eldorado Brougham and Mark II territory.
By the way, the early (pointy fins) Excellence’s rear end looks for all the world like a mashup of ’62 Studebaker and ’57-’58 Cadillac.
Here’s a side view of the Excellence with the windows up. Not quite so elegant. That driver’s door dogleg, vent window and side window is a bit of a train wreck. Was there ever a longer dogleg?
Oh well, the Excellence is a car to be driven in Paris in the spring. I still adore it.
That was the first version. The second version had a much smaller dog leg, but also lost the edge to its fins.
Indeed. Not as exciting. Even more like the Continental, which came out about the same time. I miss the wraparound windshield, though I never had to look through or bang my knees on one.
PS: Now there’s another esoteric opportunity, the History of the Windshield. How about it JPC, a perfect bookend to your Wiper History! 🙂
Wow. Hard to believe they would make such a major engineering change to such a low volume car.
Keep in mind this was essentially a coach-built car. Not really a lot of engineering involved. The panels were typically hand beaten on bucks, at least all the low-volume Italian cars. The windshields would have been a bit expensive, but then this car was very pricey.
You might actually be right. While the Japanese were fond of pillarless 4 doors like the Mazda Eunos http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunos_300 the Europeans seem to have saved the hardtop look for 2 door bodies. The older BMW coupes and Jaguar XJC are both good examples of pillarless 2 doors but I can’t think of any 4 doors.
2 door cars look better pillarless than 4 door versions also the pillarless coupe has been a hardtop version of the 2 door convertable in most cases.
Personally I prefer four doors over two doors (with very few exceptions), but then again a big part of that is that I appreciate the extra engineering required for four door hardtops. I’d take any of them, though. I haven’t owned one yet (my first true classic car will be a hardtop as soon as I can afford one), but I’d be willing to forgive any weather sealing or noise issues for that elegant roofline (plus I still love to drive with the windows down when the weather is right).
My tongue is dragging the ground and my head still hurts (taking more aspirin) from exploding the other day. GIVE ME A BREAK!
I’m afraid you’ll never see anything like pillarless hardtops again. Side impact standards aside, with the emphasis on “quiet” with all windows closed (rather, those that do open) and the AC on, music cranked up and the realities of modern commutes make these a moot point regardless of how this guy feels – “they” don’t listen to me, anyway, the poor fools.
I do love that first one. Too cool for words and with a HEMI V8 the biggest worry would be rust or an accident. God forbid you had to replace sheet-metal on that sucker.
Finally a hardtop I can truly LUST after! (Although full size American hardtops from the mid 60s to they stopped production in the 70s do “intrigue” me.)
Kudos, Paul – you thought of two more than I did. I have never seen a Facel-Vega, but remember seeing several pictures of them in books when I was a kid. I had always assumed that more were made. That is a rare car indeed. Chrysler did quite a business powering cars once upon a time – CC has now covered the Jensen Intercepter and the Facel-Vega. Now we just have to find a Dual-Ghia.
We should not ignore the Benz here, either. It is quite fascinating that a conservative company like MB would put that level of engineering into this car. I cannot imagine that the car was as rigid as MB typically wanted, and it lacks the kind of lines that would take maximum advantage of the hardtop’s sleek looks.
The 300 rode on a very substantial pre-war type frame, suitable for convertibles too. So body rigidity was not really much of an issue.
They made a few examples of the Excellence as convertibles , but the suicide doors would spring open on bumpy roads because the body was not rigid enough.
Indeed, body rigidity and Mercedes were strongly identified in my mind, from my first ride in a 1957 220S sedan to my own 1960 220S sedan, bought in 1966. Until I owned and drove that old Benz I’d never experienced that kind of solidity in a car. If anyone could build a long six-window hardtop sedan and make it solid, and also quiet with the windows up, it would be Mercedes-Benz.
I should add that I was always a fan of the Facel-Vega Excellence hardtop sedans too. Such looks and a Chrysler V8…what’s not to like?
it’s pretty rare to find hardtop sedans from asia, too.
Sharp cars. I have a 1/18 diecast of the Facel Vega coupe, they were very neat, but extremely low production. The Facellia roadster was supposed to be the first volume production Facel, but had an extremely troublesome engine that basically sank the company.
I’ve always liked the Adenauer 300d, ever since looking at the Four For The Road book (with Porsche, Corvette, Mercedes and Ferrari) by Henry Rasmussen. There was a 300d convertible sedan as well. It was my understanding that this was the final development of the 300 sedan, which came out in 1951 and was the first all new postwar Mercedes.
Back in the 60’s I was making a call on a customer in an upscale neighborhood. There was a crate with a Facel Vega front bumper on the front porch. Price of the bumper on the papers stapled to the crate? $800.00. I didn’t pay that much for my 1st car. A Bugeye Sprite
I love that 300d. The first time I saw a picture of one (in a Studebaker brochure – at the time of the 300d Studebaker was the American importer of Mercedes-Benz) I had to do a search online to see if my eyes were deceiving me. Unfortunately, according to the brochures, the car itself is structurally similar to the Cadillac and Buick six window hardtops of the 1960s. The rear vent window doesn’t roll down, it is fixed in place but can be unlatched and stored in the trunk. In that way it is more like a parade phaeton than a true hardtop, but I don’t care, I still want one.
Also, depending on what you mean by “hardtop lacking two pillars per side” the 1959-1960 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham might qualify. While the rear vent window doesn’t roll out of sight, it does slide backwards a few inches like the mid-1960s Eldorados and Thunderbirds, and there is no real C pillar, only A and D pillars. Here’s a picture I found online (you can see the gap between the rear windows on the far side):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/that_chrysler_guy/4881624673/
In my opinion the Facel Vega Excellence isn’t quite as elegant as some of its American contemporaries, but it is still a great looking car. I could have sworn there were other European four door hardtops, but I can’t think of any either. I’ll have to find a few European cars to turn into hardtops. I’ll start with the Mercedes W126, since the SEC from that generation is one of my all time favorite designs.
Thank you clarifying that about the rear-most side window. I kinda’ wondered how that would work.
Closest I can think of are the pillarless Lancia sedans – Aprilia, Ardea, Aurelia and Appia
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34107011@N08/4279045544/in/set-72157614326591091
http://www.i-magazin.cz/img_auto/nezname/lanciaardea.jpg
Certainly amongst the marques you have mentioned Paul the only possibility for hardtop sedans I can think of might be a custom-bodied Rolls Royce or Bentley.
I just did a quick search on those Lancias since I’m not too familiar with European cars. Does this list include show cars? Because if so then the Lancia Aurelia Florida is a third European four door hardtop to add to the list.
I did think of that, but it was a one-off. I decided to stick to production cars.
Also, along the same lines as the Lancias built with no B pillar but regular door frames, the Spyker Peking to Paris might qualify as a sort of hardtop, though I don’t think it is in production yet.
For what its worth, the seller considers this Rolls too be a four=door hardtop:
http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/?makeFacet=Rolls-Royce&modelFacet=Silver%20Shadow
Paul, here are a couple of the cars you mentioned, turned into hardtops.
The Peugeot 404:
and the Mercedes-Benz W108:
Thank you. Very nice; I’m still trying to decide which one I like more. I think the 404 is actually a bit more convincing, because of the lack of that sixth window.
These are both great looking cars. Any car looks better as a hardtop. I think you’re showing how exactly that sixties style was lost.
Does the Rover P5 and P5B coupe count? The “B”, of course, was for Buick, as this was the first Rover to be powered by the Buick 3.5 litre engine.
A well-sorted P5B, with forest green body and silver birch roof, would be something like my dream automobile.
I was thinking the same thing. Has to be close.
Not unless the windows all roll down and there’s no evidence of a B Pillar. That’s not the case with these Rovers, is it?
No, the B-pillar stays and I guess that rules them out. But what a great car!
I like that the Facel-Vega has a rear wheel arch which strongly resembles that of certain Buick models of the same area, and no one is bitching about it here.
Best rear wheel cutout shape ever!