Sedans as coupes, coupes as sedans

I do enjoy a badly blurred song reference in a blog title...

An interesting thing happened when the market started falling out of love with coupes – we started seeing 'four-door coupes' arrive (or really, return) as an option for folks who never fell out of love with the look, but needed a little more practicality.

"A little more" practicality was about right, in many cases, with the tapered roofline of those four-door coupe and 'fastback' sedan models resulting in limited headroom for rear passengers. But, hey, if they were gonna complain, the nearest bus stop was never far away.

So, while that second row was often a glorified parcel shelf with its own convenient doors, the four-door coupe had arrived as another bluring of the line in car segments.

And... I'm here for it. I remember scoffing at every new 'four-door coupé' as they were unveiled, but, deep down, I was into 'em.

For my money, I'd say the first- and second-gen Audi A5 Fastback models are some of my all-time fave four-door passenger designs – and I can only assume Audi's market research told a similar story, given that the new A5 sedan is clearly styled to the same formula.

BMW's FXX 6 Series was a great early example of this too, with the big F13 coupe joined by the F06 'Gran Coupé' sedan – somehow even more stylish and imposing than the two-door!

Audi A5 2025 launch review

With the new A5, Audi introduces its plan to badge all electric models with an even number, while all combustion models will wear an odd number – until, Another year, another strange change in Audi’s naming conventions. At least the ‘former A4’, now A5 for this new generation, is better than ever.

Chasing CarsMike Stevens

In fact, now that SUVs have taken over the family-hauling duties for most households, the coupe look is really becoming the default for sedans – obviously based on the notion that if you're not just buying an SUV like everybody else, you probably want your sedan to have a sleek and sporting look to it.

It's a crazy long list, actually, but those that come to mind right now include the Mercedes CLS and BMW 6 Gran Coupé, Tesla's Model S, the brutish but cool Kia Stinger, the delectable Alfa Giulia, the Mazda 6, the Jaguar XJ, the VW Passat's style-focused Arteon sibling, even the Toyota Mirai – which, in Europe at least, spends most of its life as a taxi!

(Of course, there are also the coupe-shaped SUVs, but we don't need to talk about those here...)

To that theme, I really dig what my mate Theottle has done with Toyota's GR86 above, turning the popular coupe into a small sedan.

In that form, it'd conceivably play against models like the Subaru WRX and Hyundai i30 N Line – especially if they gave it a motor that cooked just a little more to make up for the weight gain of a longer wheelbase, twice the doors, and more human bulk inside.

I'll continue dreaming about a four-door Mustang, too.

It's unlikely we'll ever see one, although there's rumours with every new generation, and it sure would be cool.

It's all about as niche as we can get these days, but if it means one more car on the road that isn't an SUV, I certainly hope we never see the four-door coupe disappear.

Writing the title for this blog post made me think of the classic biventurous Blur track Girls & Boys, so here, get down.