Fastback

Term fastback (eng. fastback, it. schrägheck) belongs to different types car bodies, with a special sloping roof shape, smoothly, without a step that goes into the trunk lid. In addition, in the past, in some countries, the term "fastback" denoted a separate type of body - today such a designation is often used by collectors, and often more widely than in the years of existence of such cars.

In general, we can say that there are different versions of which cars should be classified as fastbacks, and which should not.

Definition

Mercedes-Benz CLS- a modern car with a fastback body with a fixed rear window.

Bentley Continental GT.

In general, this term can refer to any car with a sloping roofline, for example, most hatchbacks; nevertheless, as stated in the definition according to the American magazine Road & Track, not every hatchback is a fastback, and the opposite is also incorrect.

However, there is also an opinion that fastback implies a rigidly fixed rear glass and a regular trunk lid, so the hatchback cannot be a fastback according to this version. In principle, this statement of the question is true for cars of the 1970s, among which there were seemingly very similar hatchbacks with a door in the tailgate and fastbacks with a fixed rear window and a small trunk lid - there was a need to somehow separate them.

And now the term "fastback" is often used to distinguish a car with a sloping roof and a fixed rear window from a hatchback type, often - to emphasize its sporty orientation. It is on this principle that the Mercedes-Benz CLS, which bears the commercial designation "four-door coupe", is often called a fastback. On the other hand, history knows also opposite examples, when hatchbacks were commercially designated "fastback" - also, in order to emphasize the sporting orientation of the model, thus, this issue is debatable and largely depends on the policy of the manufacturer.

In general and in general, this contradiction can be resolved in this way:

• The term "fastback" in the meaning roofline type describes any car with a sloping roof, such as hatchbacks, sedans like the Victory, or station wagons like the 1983 Audi 100 Avant.
• The term "fastback" in the meaning body type may mean, among other things, a body that resembles a hatchback in shape, but does not have a door in the rear wall, with a fixed rear window and a conventional trunk lid under it.

Fastback as a body type

In certain eras, cars were produced, the bodies of which were officially called fastbacks, or to which it has become customary to apply this term in our days.

Early developments

The first body of this type (but not yet called by this term) was created back in 1911 by the French designer L. For. His car on the serial chassis of the company "Gregoire" (Grégoire) had an "egg-shaped" (according to the original terminology) rear part of the body, which gave it a good streamlining for those years, in addition, it was noted that the car practically did not form a plume of dust when moving, which was typical for then bodies with a flat rear wall. Nevertheless, in those years this type of body did not take root due to its unusualness and the poor combination of such a shape of the rear end with the design of autocars of those years.

1930s - 1950s

The Tatra T87 had a fastback body, although it was not so designated in those years.

Borgward Hansa (1952-55) - European fastback of the 50s.

The name "fastback" was originally a corporate name, and only nowadays it is often extended to all similar cars of this era. For example, in relation to Chevrolet cars, the word “ aerosedan» ( aerosedan) used in the names of a number of models. The term was also common "torpedo" - torpedo back... In general, the set of decisions laid down in cars of those years was usually designated as a style streamline (English "streamline").

Fastbacks appeared in the second half of the 1930s as an attempt to improve the aerodynamics of the car in comparison with the two-volume sedans with an almost vertical rear wall, which were widespread in those years, became widespread in the last pre-war and early post-war years, but by the mid-1950s their release was mostly discontinued as low functionality of such a body was revealed.

The deaf rear wall of the body with a small, strongly inclined glass gave poor visibility, the teardrop-shaped body shape reduced the space above the rear row of seats, access to the trunk was inconvenient (for many fastbacks of the first generation, it was generally carried out from inside the car, through the back of the rear sofa - for example, SAAB 92) ... As a result, by the beginning of the 1950s, the fastback body on general-purpose cars was almost completely replaced by the classic type of three-volume sedan. Thus, the bodies, conventionally called in our time by the general term fastback, were a kind of transitional link from a two-volume sedan of the 1930s with a vertical rear wall of the body (GAZ-M-1) to a three-volume sedan of the 1950s (GAZ-21) ...

NSU Sportprinz, 1958.

However, many sports cars and in the 1950s they still had a teardrop-shaped rear end, for example, the Porsche 356. The aerodynamic advantages of such a body outweighed its disadvantages for these cars.

1960s - 1970s

In the 1960s, however, the drive to improve appearance and partly aerodynamics production vehicles again led the designers to sloping roof bodies.

Back in the second half of the 1950s, in the USA, then in Europe, cars began to appear with two-door coupe or hardtop bodies with a very long roof that smoothly merges into the trunk - at the same time, these were real three-volume bodies, as opposed to two-volume fastbacks. In the early 1960s, such bodies began to be called fasttop, sportroof or sports coupé.

The 1960 Ford Galaxie Starliner is a hardtop coupe with a sloping roof, sometimes referred to as "Fasttop", as opposed to a conventional roof with a straight C-pillar - "Boxtop".

The Opel Rekord Coupé is the European equivalent of American fasttop bodies.

1968 Ford Galaxie 500 Fastback.

The 1967 AMC Marlin is an American sports fastback from the 1960s.

Further evolution of this type led to the appearance of bodies in which the flat roof of the fasttop type was extended to the rear so that it almost reached the rear wall of the trunk. This body type has been called the old term "fastback". The fundamental difference from the previous generation fastbacks here is that rear part was no longer teardrop-shaped, but rather simply sloping, or gradually descending in the rear.

Such a body, thanks to the fashion for powerful, fast cars was widespread in the United States for a number of years in the second half of the 1960s - early 1970s (a typical example is the Ford Mustang and many muscle cars) and has evoked numerous imitations in Europe and Asia (for example, the Ford Capri). It is this type of body that begins to be associated with sportiness, as a result, it practically displaces in Europe sports models with a teardrop-shaped rear part of the body (in practice, often more streamlined). As a rule, these were two-door sports cars, which were also called Sports coupé or Berlinetta.

Due to the use of very large, strongly curved rear windows on fastbacks of this generation, it was possible to solve the visibility problem quite satisfactorily. The main problem remained the low practicality of the trunk with such a roof configuration.

Volkswagen Typ 3 1600, 1965.

Subsequently, this line of bodies received an additional door in the tailgate and became an analogue of European hatchbacks - which in Europe originated from station wagons, therefore they were mainly five-door and had a three-window sidewall, while the American ones were predominantly three-door (in the USA they were often designated as two-door) and with four-window sidewall.

In the United States, for the first time, the term was used in relation to such bodies Sport Utility which means "Practical sportiness"- nowadays it is associated primarily with SUVs. It was during these years that the term "fastback" began to be used as the opposite of the term "hatchback" and denoting a car with the same body shape, but without a door in the rear wall.

A certain number of four-door fastback cars appeared in Europe, for example, Citroen CX and Volkswagen Passat B1, but they remained relatively rare exotic. Two-door fastbacks were still prevalent in the late fifties and sixties.

Notes (edit)

Types of car bodies
Styles List Category
Closed	Sedan Two-door sedan Hatchback Coupe Limousine Minivan Hardtop Town car Combi Liftback
Open

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Term fastback (eng. fastback, it. schrägheck= sloping rear) refers to various types of car bodies with a special sloping roof shape, smoothly, without a step that goes into the trunk lid. In addition, in the past in some countries, the term "fastback" denoted a separate type of body - today such a designation is often used by collectors, and often more widely than in the years of existence of such cars.

In general, we can say that there are different versions of which cars should be classified as fastbacks, and which should not.

Definition

In general, this term can refer to any car with a sloping roofline, for example, most hatchbacks; nevertheless, as stated in the definition according to the American magazine Road & Track, not every hatchback is a fastback, and the opposite is also incorrect.

However, there is also an opinion stating that the fastback assumes a rigidly fixed rear window and a regular trunk lid, thus, according to this version, the hatchback cannot be a fastback. In principle, this statement of the question is true for cars of the 1970s, among which there were seemingly very similar hatchbacks with a door in the tailgate and fastbacks with a fixed rear window and a small trunk lid that continued the roof line - there was a need to somehow separate them.

Currently, the term "fastback" is usually used precisely to distinguish a car with a sloping roof and a fixed rear window from hatchbacks, often to emphasize its sporty orientation. It is on this principle that the Mercedes-Benz CLS, which bears the commercial designation "four-door coupe", is called a fastback. On the other hand, history knows and opposite examples, when hatchbacks were commercialized as "fastback" - also, in order to emphasize the sporting orientation of the model, thus, this issue is debatable and largely depends on the policy of the manufacturer.

In general and in general, this contradiction can be resolved in this way:

• The term "fastback" in the meaning body shape describes any car with a sloping roof - for example, some hatchbacks and liftbacks, sedans like the Pobeda, or station wagons like the 1983 Audi 100 Avant.
• The term "fastback" in the meaning body type may mean, among other things, a body that resembles a hatchback in shape, but does not have a door in the rear wall, with a fixed rear window and a conventional trunk lid under it.

Fastback aerodynamics

In the twenties and thirties, the creators of cars with a teardrop-shaped rear part of the body, as a rule, pursued a purely utilitarian goal - to improve streamlining by reducing aerodynamic drag. This is what was stated as the main advantage of fastback in popular science publications of the thirties and forties.

Meanwhile, over time, it became obvious that from the point of view of aerodynamics, teardrop-shaped bodies are essentially unpromising for production cars: although, compared to the angular shapes of mass models of those years, they really gave a tangible gain in streamlining, there were reserves for its further improvement in relation to a general car. they had no purpose.

The fact is that the teardrop shape is practically ideal from the point of view of streamlining only with the "correct" proportions of the body, approximately like an aircraft fuselage or engine nacelle. Taking into account the minimum height of the car suitable for the location of passengers, the achievement of such proportions would require bringing its length to 8 ... 9 meters - a requirement in practice is very difficult. So, in the late thirties, Mercedes built a racing Mercedes-Benz T80 according to this scheme, which, with a length of 8 240 mm and a height of 1 740 mm, had the “correct” drop proportions and a drag coefficient unique even by today's standards 0.18 - but it was achieved at the cost of a complete lack of practicality from the point of view of everyday use. Keeping a reasonable length of the teardrop-shaped car, its height would have to be reduced to as unacceptable as an eight-meter length, less than 1 meter, as in the Peltzer racing Stars.

If the "drop" is shortened, while maintaining the character of its contours, but not the contour of an ideally streamlined body itself, adjusting the proportions to the need to accommodate passengers in the body - as did the creators of "Tatra" and "Zhuk" - aerodynamic resistance grows rapidly due to the appearance of air flow separations with the formation of vortices along the entire roof contour. And if next to the still very angular bodies of the mid-thirties, the decrease in aerodynamic drag was very noticeable, then compared to the rather streamlined three-volume sedans of the late thirties - early forties, with their characteristic "licked" contours, the effect was no longer too significant - especially if the teardrop-shaped rear part was connected to the front part made according to the requirements of the fashion, and not the aerodynamics, moreover, in the case of the car of the "classic" layout, weighed down by numerous slots for the passage of cooling air, which are not at all good for streamlining. As a result, the effect of the use of a teardrop-shaped body turned out to be rather decorative on the whole - at the same time, the conditions for accommodating passengers in it were significantly worse than in a body with a more traditional shape, which played a role in the decline in popularity of teardrop-shaped bodies already in the first half of the fifties. when "torpedo" pseudo-streamlined lines went out of fashion, giving way to new design trends (see below).

The second significant drawback of the fastback from the point of view of aerodynamics is the occurrence of a significant lifting force when air flows around it, which worsens the stability of the car when driving at high speed due to a decrease in the adhesion of its tires to the asphalt. Also, fastbacks have an increased sensitivity to crosswinds.

Back in the thirties, the Swiss aerodynamics specialist Wunibald Kamm found a better solution - the so-called "comeback", the same eight-meter perfectly streamlined "drop", but brought to an acceptable length due to the "chopped off" tail, replaced by a vertical rear wall of the body. This body shape not only had good streamlining, but also created a downforce that improves the grip of the car's tires on the road, contributing to driving safety. However, for design reasons, the mass distribution of such bodies did not occur for a long time, since they did not fit into the prevailing ideas about the appearance of the car. It wasn't until the gasoline crisis of the seventies that serious interest in Kamma's work was awakened. Some of the early comebacks of those years, such as the Citroën SM and Citroën CX, still reproduced the outline of the fastback, retaining its characteristic sloping roofline and long, sedan-like rear overhang and differing from typical fastbacks only by being more advantageous from a point of view. view of aerodynamics with a smaller angle of inclination of the rear wall of the body (such a shape from modern cars have only a few crossovers, like the Honda Crosstour and BMW X6, as well as specific luxury-sports five-door cars like the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo) - however, over time they began to evolve in a different direction - towards a hatchback with a "chopped off" rear overhang and a vertical rear wall of the body.

In certain eras, cars were produced, the bodies of which were officially called fastbacks, or to which it has become customary to apply this term in our days.

Early developments

The first body of this type (but not yet called by this term) was created back in 1911 by the French designer L. For. His car on the serial chassis of the company "Gregoire" (Grégoire) had an "egg-shaped" (according to the original terminology) rear part of the body, which gave it a good streamlining for those years, in addition, it was noted that the car practically did not form a plume of dust when moving, which was typical for then bodies with a flat rear wall. Nevertheless, in those years, this type of body did not take root due to its unusualness and the poor combination of such a shape of the rear end with the design of cars of those years.

1930s - 1950s

In the mid-1930s, in an effort to improve the aerodynamics of the car, serial models with a teardrop-shaped rear part of the body, such as the Czechoslovak Tatra T77 and Tatra T87 (designer - Hans Ledwinka, Hans Ledwinka). In the long tail of the teardrop-shaped body, inconvenient for accommodating passengers, these models had an engine. There are also cars of "classic" layout with such a body shape.

Under the influence of the pioneer fastbacks of the thirties, the shape of the bodies of mass models began to change - the rear wall from vertical becomes inclined forward, the contours are rounded. However, most designers have not gone further than this.

The peak of popularity of fastbacks came in the late forties - early fifties, when they were in the production program of many American manufacturers (Ford, Chevrolet, Pontiac and others) and were quite widespread in Europe - "Pobeda" M-20 (designer - Veniamin Samoilov) , Borgward Hansa 2400, Ford Vedette and others.

GAZ Pobieda in a street of Mtskheta - Georgia 2.jpg

Soviet fastback "Pobeda" GAZ M-20, 1946-1958.

1948 Pontiac Streamliner Deluxe - Flickr - exfordy (1) .jpg

1948 Pontiac Streamliner.

2007-09-08 02 Borgward Hansa 2400 (Ausschn, ret) .jpg

European fastback Borgward Hansa 1952-1955.

Ford V8 Vedette (1952), Dutch license registration DL-21-65 pic7.JPG

1952 European fastback Ford Vedette.

The name "fastback" itself appeared in the United States in the late thirties and was originally a brand name. Most cars with such a body were not called that at that time - only in our time this term is often extended to all similar cars of this era. So, "Pobeda" in all reference books is designated as a sedan, although the very term "fastback" in the USSR was known and was subsequently used in relation to it in a number of popular publications; in relation to Chevrolet vehicles, the term for a body with a teardrop-shaped rear part was the word " aerosedan» - Aerosedan, used in the name of a number of models; Pontiac used notation Streamliner and Torpedo; Ford did not distinguish between this type of body used on the 1937-1948 models. In general, the style of cars of those years today is often collectively denoted by the word Streamline (English "streamline").

Meanwhile, by the mid-1950s, the production of mass models with a body of this type was largely phased out: fashion trends changed, and its low functionality was also revealed.

So, the deaf rear wall of the body with a small, strongly inclined glass gave poor visibility, the teardrop-shaped body shape reduced the space above the rear row of seats, access to the trunk was inconvenient (for many fastbacks of the first generation, it was generally carried out from inside the car, through the back of the rear sofa - for example SAAB 92). As a result, the fastback body on general purpose vehicles was quickly replaced by the classic three-volume sedan type almost completely. Thus, the bodies, conventionally called in our time by the general term fastback, turned out to be a kind of transitional link from a two-volume sedan of the 1930s with a vertical rear wall of the body (GAZ M-1) to a three-volume sedan of the 1950s (GAZ-21).

After the mid-fifties, the teardrop-shaped rear part of the body was retained by some rear-engined cars, for which such a shape was to some extent justified, especially when it was necessary to place a relatively high inline engine in the rear part of the body, which was not easy to fit into the contours of a rather low three-volume sedan or coupe. as well as individual sporty and imitating models such as the Porsche 356 - already more traditionally than for any practical reasons.

1960s - 1970s

In the 1960s, however, the desire to improve the appearance, and already only to a small extent aerodynamics, production cars again led designers to bodies with a sloping roof. The post-war development of fastbacks in the United States is characterized by a "space" exterior of the body, expressed by fins in the rear and numerous streamlined elements - a consequence of a breakthrough in the space industry in the country. Back in the late 1950s, cars with two-door bodies such as a coupe or hardtop with a very long roof that smoothly merges into the trunk - these were still three-volume bodies, but the general tendency towards visually more streamlined shapes can be clearly traced on them. In the early 1960s, such bodies began to be called fasttop or sportsroof... So, the Ford Galaxie model "1963 1/2" (that is, presented in the middle of the 1963 model year) with a "two-door hardtop" body had a rectangular roof with a more sloping roof than that of a sedan, a rear pillar and a brand name Sportsroof... This car was originally created specifically for homologation in NASCAR Stock Car Racing. Subsequently name sportsroof was transferred to fastbacks of the firm "Ford". The first real fastback in this era was the 1963 American Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray. He had a teardrop-shaped no longer the entire rear part of the body, but only the rear part of the roof, recessed into the usual angular base of the body. The Sting Ray marked the beginning of a new surge in the popularity of fastbacks, however, most of them were still not teardrop-shaped at the back, but simply sloping, or gradually declining at the rear. In fact, the new generation fastbacks were a product of the evolution of the body type fasttop, in which the roof was extended back so much that it almost reached the rear wall of the trunk. Due to the fashion for powerful and fast cars, such a body was very popular in the United States in the second half of the 1960s - early 1970s (a typical example is the Ford Mustang and many muscle cars) and caused numerous imitations in Europe and Asia (for example, the Ford Capri ). It is this type of body that begins to be associated with sportiness, as a result of which it practically replaces sports models with a teardrop-shaped rear part of the body in Europe (in practice, they are often more streamlined). As a rule, these were two-door sports cars, which were also called Sports coupé or Berlinetta.

Due to the use of very large, strongly curved rear windows on this generation of fastbacks, it was possible to solve the visibility problems quite satisfactorily. So, the 1964 Plymouth Barracuda fastback had the largest rear window in the world at that time. The main problem remained the low practicality of the trunk with this roof configuration - although its volume was potentially large, access to the luggage was inconvenient. Introduction of reclining backrest rear seat, as on the same "Barracuda", helped to solve this problem only in part. Subsequently, this line of bodies received an additional door in the tailgate and became an analogue of European hatchbacks - which in Europe originated from station wagons, therefore, they were mainly five-door and had a three-window sidewall, while the American ones were predominantly three-door (or, in American terms, two-door) and with a four-window sidewall. In the United States, for the first time, the term was used in relation to such bodies Sport Utility which means "Practical sportiness"- nowadays it is associated primarily with comfortable SUVs. It was during these years that the term "fastback" began to be used as the opposite of the term "hatchback" and denoting a car with the same body shape, but without a door in the rear wall - during the first peak of the popularity of fastbacks, such an opposition did not make sense, since hatchbacks in those years have not yet become widespread. In fact, the fastbacks of the sixties turned out to be a kind of transitional link to the full-fledged hatchbacks of the seventies.

A certain number of cars with a “fastback” body appeared in Europe, for example, Citroen CX and Volkswagen Passat B1, but they still remained a relatively rare exotic - hatchbacks with a lifting door in the rear began to become the European mainstream even then.

Meanwhile, the requirement to further improve the aerodynamics of cars in the seventies caused a new wave of research, during which the body shape, optimal from this point of view and taking into account the optimal placement of passengers and cargo, was revealed - an "aerodynamic wedge" with a high and abruptly breaking off rear wall. This form of car automobile was realized in the eighties and became widespread afterwards.

Modern stage

V last years Starting with the Mercedes-Benz CLS (2010), the fashion for bodies with a gradually declining sloping rear wall of the body, usually used on expensive sports cars, is reviving in Europe - for example, the Audi A7 Sportback, BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo. Unlike the Mercedes that initiated this trend, which was a real four-door fastback with a conventional trunk lid, these cars have a glazed fifth door in the tailgate and are actually liftbacks, although manufacturers prefer to use original terms for them, such as the same Sportback.

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Closed Open Cargo and passenger Exclusive

An excerpt characterizing Fastback

- Is that your saber? He shouted. The girls jumped back. With frightened eyes, Denisov hid his shaggy legs in the blanket, looking back at his comrade for help. Petya passed the door and closed again. Laughter was heard outside the door.
“Nikolenka, come out in a dressing gown,” said Natasha's voice.
- Is that your saber? - asked Petya, - or is it yours? - With obsequious respect he turned to the mustachioed, black Denisov.
Rostov hurriedly put on his shoes, put on his dressing gown and went out. Natasha put on one boot with a spur and climbed into the other. Sonya was spinning and was just about to inflate her dress and sit down when he came out. Both were in the same, brand new, blue dresses - fresh, ruddy, cheerful. Sonya ran away, and Natasha, taking her brother by the arm, led him into the sofa, and they began a conversation. They did not have time to ask each other and answer questions about thousands of little things that could only interest them. Natasha laughed at every word that he said and that she said, not because what they said was funny, but because she was having fun and she was unable to restrain her joy, which was expressed in laughter.
- Oh, how good, great! - she condemned to everything. Rostov felt that, under the influence of the hot rays of love, for the first time after a year and a half, that childish smile with which he had never smiled since he left home was blossoming on his soul and face.
“No, listen,” she said, “are you quite a man now? I am awfully glad that you are my brother. She touched his mustache. - I want to know what kind of men you are? Are we like us? No?
- Why did Sonya run away? - asked Rostov.
- Yes. This is a whole story! How are you going to talk to Sonya? Are you or are you?
“How will it happen,” said Rostov.
- Tell her you, please, I'll tell you later.
- What is it?
- Well, I'll tell you now. You know that Sonya is my friend, such a friend that I will burn my hand for her. Look here. - She rolled up her muslin sleeve and showed a red mark on her long, thin and delicate arm under her shoulder, much higher than the elbow (in the place that is also covered by ball gowns).
“I burned it to prove my love to her. I just kindled the ruler on the fire, and pressed it.
Sitting in his former classroom, on a sofa with cushions on the arms, and looking into those desperately animated eyes of Natasha, Rostov again entered that family, childish world that had no meaning for anyone but him, but which gave him some of the best pleasures in life; and burning his hand with a ruler, to show love, did not seem useless to him: he understood and was not surprised at this.
- So what? only? - he asked.
- Well, so friendly, so friendly! This is nonsense - with a ruler; but we are forever friends. She will love whom, so forever; but I do not understand this, I will forget now.
- Well, what then?
- Yes, so she loves me and you. - Natasha suddenly blushed, - well, do you remember, before leaving ... So she says that you forget it all ... She said: I will always love him, and let him be free. After all, it is true that this is excellent, noble! - Yes Yes? very noble? Yes? Natasha asked so seriously and excitedly that it was evident that what she was saying now she had previously said with tears.
Rostov pondered.
“I’m not taking back my word in anything,” he said. - And then, Sonya is so lovely that what kind of fool would give up his happiness?
“No, no,” Natasha shouted. - We already talked about it with her. We knew you were going to say that. But this is impossible, because, you know, if you say that - you consider yourself a bound word, it turns out that she seemed to say it on purpose. It turns out that you still forcibly marry her, and it turns out that it is not at all that.
Rostov saw that it was all well thought out by them. Sonya also struck him yesterday with her beauty. To-day, seeing her briefly, she seemed even better to him. She was an adorable 16-year-old girl, obviously passionate about him (he never doubted this for a minute). Why should he not love her now, and not even marry, thought Rostov, but now there are still so many other joys and activities! "Yes, they thought it up perfectly," he thought, "we must stay free."
- Well, fine, - he said, - we'll talk afterwards. Oh, how glad I am to you! He added.
- Well, why didn't you cheat on Boris? - asked the brother.
- That's nonsense! - Natasha shouted laughing. “I don’t think about him or anyone, and I don’t want to know.”
- Here's how! So what are you?
- I AM? Natasha asked, and a happy smile lit up her face. - Have you seen Duport "a?
- No.
- Have you seen the famous Dupor dancer? Well, you won't understand. That's what I am. - Natasha took, rounding her arms, her skirt, as they dance, ran a few steps, turned over, made an antrash, kicked her on the leg and, standing on the very tips of her socks, walked a few steps.
- I'm standing there? after all, - she said; but could not resist on tiptoe. - So that's what I am! I will never marry anyone, but I will become a dancer. But do not tell anyone.
Rostov laughed so loudly and cheerfully that Denisov felt jealous from his room, and Natasha could not help laughing with him. - No, isn't it good? She kept saying.
- Well, you don't want to marry Boris anymore?
Natasha flushed. - I don't want to marry anyone. I'll tell him the same when I see him.
- Here's how! - said Rostov.
“Well, yes, it's all nonsense,” Natasha continued to chatter. - And what is Denisov good? She asked.
- Good.
- Well, goodbye, get dressed. Is he scary, Denisov?
- Why scary? - asked Nicolas. - No. Vaska is glorious.
- You call him Vaska - it's strange. Is he very good?
- Very good.
- Well, come and drink tea as soon as possible. Together.
And Natasha stood on tiptoe and walked out of the room the way dancers do, but smiling the way happy 15 year old girls smile. Having met Sonya in the drawing-room, Rostov blushed. He didn't know how to deal with her. Yesterday they kissed in the first minute of the joy of meeting, but today they felt that it was impossible to do this; he felt that everyone, both his mother and sisters, looked at him inquiringly and was expected of him how he would behave with her. He kissed her hand and called her you - Sonya. But their eyes, meeting, said "you" to each other and kissed tenderly. With her glance, she asked forgiveness from him for the fact that at Natasha's embassy she dared to remind him of his promise and thanked him for his love. With his glance, he thanked her for the offer of freedom and said that either way or another, he would never stop loving her, because one cannot but love her.
“How strange, however,” said Vera, choosing a general moment of silence, “that Sonya and Nikolenka have now met on you and as strangers. - Vera's remark was correct, like all her remarks; but as with most of her remarks, everyone felt awkward, and not only Sonya, Nikolai and Natasha, but also the old countess, who was afraid of this son's love for Sonya, which could deprive him of his brilliant part, also blushed like a girl. Denisov, to Rostov's surprise, in a new uniform, pomaded and perfumed, appeared in the drawing-room as dandy as he was in battles, and so amiable to ladies and gentlemen that Rostov had never expected to see him.

Returning to Moscow from the army, Nikolai Rostov was accepted by his family as the best son, hero and beloved Nikolushka; family - like a sweet, pleasant and respectful young man; acquaintances - as a handsome hussar lieutenant, dexterous dancer and one of the best suitors in Moscow.
The Rostovs met all of Moscow; this year the old count had enough money, because all the estates were re-mortgaged, and therefore Nikolushka, having got his own trotter and the most fashionable leggings, special, which no one else in Moscow had, and boots, the most fashionable, with the most sharp socks and little silver spurs, had a lot of fun. Rostov, returning home, experienced a pleasant feeling after a certain period of time trying on himself to the old conditions of life. It seemed to him that he had matured and grown very much. Despair for an examination that was not kept from the law of God, borrowing money from Gavrila for a cab driver, secret kisses with Sonya, he recalled all this as childishness, from which he was immeasurably far away now. Now he is a hussar lieutenant in a silver mantle, with the soldier George, preparing his trotter for a run, together with famous hunters, elderly, respectable ones. He has a lady friend on the boulevard, to whom he goes in the evening. He conducted a mazurka at the Arkharovs' ball, talked about the war with Field Marshal Kamensky, visited an English club, and was in touch with a forty-year-old colonel whom Denisov introduced him to.
His passion for the sovereign somewhat weakened in Moscow, since during this time he did not see him. But he often talked about the sovereign, about his love for him, making it felt that he was not yet telling everything, that there was something else in his feelings for the sovereign, which could not be understood by everyone; and he wholeheartedly shared the feeling of adoration that was common in Moscow at that time for the emperor Alexander Pavlovich, who was given the name of an angel in the flesh in Moscow at that time.
During this short stay of Rostov in Moscow, before leaving for the army, he did not become close, but on the contrary parted with Sonya. She was very pretty, sweet, and obviously passionately in love with him; but he was in that period of youth when it seems so much to do that there is no time to do it, and the young man is afraid to get involved - he values ​​his freedom, which he needs for many other things. When he thought about Sonya during this new stay in Moscow, he said to himself: Eh! there are many more, many of them will be and are there, somewhere, unknown to me. I will also have time, when I want, to make love, but now I have no time. In addition, it seemed to him that something humiliating for his courage in female society. He went to balls and to the sorority, pretending to do so against his will. Running, an English club, carousing with Denisov, a trip there - that was another matter: it was decent for a young hussar.
In early March, the old Count Ilya Andreevich Rostov was preoccupied with arranging a dinner at the English club for the reception of Prince Bagration.
The count in a robe walked around the hall, giving orders to the club economy and the famous Feoktist, the head chef of the English club, about asparagus, fresh cucumbers, strawberries, calf and fish for Prince Bagration's dinner. The count, from the day the club was founded, was its member and foreman. He was entrusted from the club with arranging a celebration for Bagration, because rarely did anyone know how to host a feast so hospitably, especially because rarely did anyone know how and wanted to put their money if they were needed for organizing a feast. The chef and the housekeeper of the club with cheerful faces listened to the Count's orders, because they knew that no one, as with him, could better profit from a dinner that cost several thousand.
- So look, put the scallops, the scallops in the cake, you know! - So there are three cold? ... - asked the cook. The count pondered. - At least three ... mayonnaise times, - he said, bending his finger ...
- So you will order to take large sterlets? - asked the housekeeper. - What to do, take it, if they do not yield. Yes, you are my father, I had forgotten. After all, we still need another entree on the table. Ah, my fathers! He clutched his head. - Who will bring me flowers?
- Mitinka! And Mitinka! Ride you, Mitinka, to the Moscow region, - he turned to the manager who came to his call, - jump to the Moscow region and now lead the gardener to dress Maksimka's corvee. Tell them to drag all the greenhouses here and wrap them up with felt. Yes, so that I have two hundred pots here by Friday.
Having given more and more orders, he went out to rest with the countess, but he remembered what was still needed, returned himself, returned the cook and the housekeeper, and again began to order. A light, masculine gait was heard in the doorway, the clanking of spurs, and a handsome, ruddy, with a blackening mustache, apparently rested and groomed in a quiet life in Moscow, entered a young count.
- Oh, my brother! My head is spinning, ”said the old man, as if ashamed, smiling in front of his son. - If only you would help! We need more songwriters. I have music, but why should I call the gypsies? Your brothers in the military love it.
“Really, papa, I think Prince Bagration, when he was preparing for the Battle of Shengraben, was less bothering than you do now,” said his son, smiling.
The old count pretended to be angry. - Yes, you interpret, you try!
And the count turned to the cook, who, with an intelligent and respectable face, was observing and affectionate looking at the father and son.
- What is the youth then, eh, Theoktist? - he said, - laughs at our brother old people.
- Well, your Excellency, they only need to eat well, but how to collect and serve everything is none of their business.
- So, so, - the count shouted, and gaily grabbing his son by both hands, shouted: - So that's what, I got you! Take a pair of sledges now and go to Bezukhov, and tell him that the count, they say, Ilya Andreevich was sent to ask you for fresh strawberries and pineapples. You can't get it from anyone else. You don't, so you go in, tell the princesses, and from there, that's what, go to Razgulyai - Ipatka the coachman knows - find you there Ilyushka the gypsy, that's what Count Orlov danced then, remember, in a white Cossackin, and bring him here to me.
- And bring him here with the gypsies? - asked Nikolay laughing. - Oh well!…
At this time, with inaudible steps, with a businesslike, anxious and at the same time Christianly meek air that never left her, Anna Mikhailovna entered the room. Despite the fact that every day Anna Mikhailovna found the count in a dressing gown, every time he was embarrassed in front of her and asked for an apology for his suit.
“Nothing, count, darling,” she said, meekly closing her eyes. “And I’ll go to Bezukhoy,” she said. - Pierre has arrived, and now we will get everything, Count, from his greenhouses. I needed to see him. He sent me a letter from Boris. Thank God, Borya is now at the headquarters.
The count was delighted that Anna Mikhailovna was taking one part of his orders, and ordered her to lay the little carriage.
- You tell Bezukhov to come. I'll write it down. What is he with his wife? - he asked.
Anna Mikhailovna turned her eyes, and her face expressed deep sorrow ...
“Ah, my friend, he is very unhappy,” she said. “If what we heard is true, it’s awful. And did we think when we were so happy about his happiness! And such a tall, heavenly soul, this young Bezukhov! Yes, I feel sorry for him from the bottom of my heart and will try to give him comfort that will depend on me.
- What is it? - asked both Rostov, senior and junior.
Anna Mikhailovna took a deep breath: - Dolokhov, Marya Ivanovna's son, - she said in a mysterious whisper, - they say, completely compromised her. He took him out, invited him to his house in St. Petersburg, and now ... She came here, and this one rip her head off after her, - said Anna Mikhailovna, wanting to express her sympathy to Pierre, but in involuntary intonations and a half-smile showing sympathy, tear her head off, like she named Dolokhova. - They say that Pierre himself is completely heartbroken.
- Well, all the same tell him to come to the club - everything will dissipate. The feast will be a mountain.
The next day, March 3, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, 250 members of the English Club and 50 guests were waiting for dinner, the dear guest and hero of the Austrian campaign, Prince Bagration. At first, upon receiving news of the Battle of Austerlitz, Moscow was perplexed. At that time, the Russians were so accustomed to victories that, having received the news of the defeat, some simply did not believe, others were looking for explanations for such a strange event in some extraordinary reason. In the English club, where everything that was noble, had correct information and weight, in December, when news began to arrive, they did not say anything about the war and about the last battle, as if everyone had agreed to keep silent about it. People who gave direction to conversations, such as: Count Rostopchin, Prince Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgoruky, Valuev, gr. Markov, book. Vyazemsky, did not show up in the club, but gathered at home, in their intimate circles, and Muscovites who spoke from other people's voices (to which Ilya Andreevich Rostov belonged) remained for a short time without a definite judgment about the war and without leaders. Muscovites felt that something was wrong and that it was difficult to discuss these bad news, and therefore it was better to remain silent. But after some time, as the jury left the deliberation room, the aces who gave their opinion in the club appeared, and everything began to speak clearly and definitely. Reasons were found for the incredible, unheard-of and impossible event that the Russians were beaten, and everything became clear, and the same thing was said in all corners of Moscow. These reasons were: the betrayal of the Austrians, the bad food of the troops, the betrayal of the Pole Pshebyshevsky and the Frenchman Langeron, the inability of Kutuzov, and (they said quietly) the youth and inexperience of the sovereign, who had entrusted himself to bad and insignificant people. But the troops, the Russian troops, everyone said, were extraordinary and performed miracles of courage. Soldiers, officers, generals - they were heroes. But the hero of the heroes was Prince Bagration, who became famous for his Shengraben deed and the retreat from Austerlitz, where he alone led his column undisturbed and fought off twice the strongest enemy all day. The fact that Bagration was chosen as a hero in Moscow was facilitated by the fact that he had no connections in Moscow and was a stranger. In his person, due honor was given to the military, simple, without connections and intrigues, Russian soldier, still associated with the memories of the Italian campaign with the name of Suvorov. In addition, in paying such honors to him, the best shown was the reluctance and disapproval of Kutuzov.
- If there was no Bagration, il faudrait l "inventer, [it would be necessary to invent it.] - said the joker Shinshin, parodying Voltaire's words. Nobody spoke about Kutuzov, and some whispered him, calling him a court turntable and an old satire. Moscow repeated the words of Prince Dolgorukov: "sculpting, sculpting and clung to", consoled in our defeat by the recollection of previous victories, and Rostopchin repeated the words that French soldiers should be roused to battle with grandiloquent phrases, that one should reason logically with the Germans, convincing them that more dangerous to run than to go forward, but that the Russian soldiers should only be held back and asked: be quiet! New and new stories were heard from all sides about individual examples of courage shown by our soldiers and officers at Austerlitz. , that one loaded five cannons. They also spoke about Berg, who did not know him, that he, wounded in his right hand, took a sword in his left and went forward. Nothing was said about Bolkonsky, and only But those who knew him closely regretted that he died early, leaving his pregnant wife and eccentric father.

Most car enthusiasts are used to sedans and station wagons. Later, a hatchback becomes a widespread version of the body - the first domestic hatchbacks were the VAZ "Nines" and "Eights". The body of the car "Moskvich Izh Combi" will be more correctly called a liftback, and the VAZ in the body of this type has recently begun to produce "Lada Grants". Perhaps, "Granta Liftback" got its name due to the fact that hatchbacks in lineup enterprises are already represented in other families (Kalina, Priora). We will look at how exactly the liftback differs from the hatchback, as well as from the fastback, which is actually a sedan.

What is liftback

The most interesting thing is that the liftback is a kind of hatchback: the trunk lid is here combined with the rear window and is called the "fifth door". But if you look at the liftback from the side, the car can be confused with a sedan - the rear ledge resembles a luggage compartment, covered with a narrow metal strip (VAZ-21099). Actually, Skoda Fabia Is a hatchback, whereas Skoda Rapid offered to the buyer in a liftback body. From the image in the photo, you can understand what exactly the main difference is. Until recently, the domestic auto industry did not use the term "liftback", although cars in such a body were previously produced (Izh-2125 Combi).

There are three body types that are two-box: hatchback, liftback and station wagon. They all differ only subjectively. The protrusion on the rear door can be reduced, and we get a hatchback from the liftback. And to get a station wagon, you need to lengthen the rear overhang. In station wagons off-road a semi-frame body structure can be used, but this does not change the essence - there are always two isolated volumes, as well as a rear "odd" door. Other two-volume bodies, except for the three listed, cannot exist (a curious exception is the Start minibus).

Variations on a sedan theme

Four doors, one baggage and one engine compartment- it would seem that this scheme is the most rational. This is how you can characterize the car body, which was named "sedan". In fact, sedans come in both four-door and two-door. The last of these options differs from the coupe body in the following way: in the sedan, the rear seats from the front ones are at a considerable distance, not like inside the coupe. The roof of a coupe is usually sloping at the back, and the sofa has to be placed very close to the front seats. Typical examples of a two-door sedan: BMW 3 Series, Zaporozhets ZAZ-968.

By itself, the body of the "sedan" class is in any case three-volume. Let's say the side silhouette of such a body resembles a hatchback, as shown in the figure. Then, we see in front of us nothing more than a fastback. In total, it turns out that a fastback is a sedan in which the rear window and trunk lid do not form an angle (they are on the same plane). A typical fastback sedan is the GAZ M-20 Pobeda.

In the 1970s, two-door fastback sedans became classics in the American auto industry. Such a body can be made stronger than a similar four-door sedan, therefore the so-called muscle cars are mostly assembled in a two-door body. Similar cars often called the word "coupe", which from a formal point of view is completely wrong. Erroneous names (for example, "Ford Granada Coupe") have taken root very well in reality.

Mercedes, unlike the American auto industry, has never produced two-door sedans or fastbacks. Here, the gradation of models looks like this: four-door sedans, then coupes and roadsters. Actually, even the B-class appeared in the Mercedes arsenal not so long ago, and according to its own driving performance these cars are inferior to the A-class cars. Probably, a two-door fastback sedan, released under the Mercedes or BMW brand, would look interesting. But a sports car in the mind of a European is a coupe, and family car, in turn, must be endowed with four doors.

Two-door sedan originally from the USSR

There are technologies, using which, the B-pillars are not easy to manufacture. In such cases, the following options are preferred: coupe, two-door sedan, three-door hatchback or liftback. For the structure to be durable, the body must be three-volume (sedan, coupe). If we are talking about a mass car, suitable option remains a sedan with two doors.

The project of the Zarya car, which appeared in 1966, was developed by the specialists of the auto repair base in Severodonetsk. The body of this machine, made of fiberglass, was mounted on a metal frame. Unfortunately, it was not possible to implement the project to the end, that is, to reach significant production volumes. The technology for the production of fiberglass parts turned out to be too time consuming. But the car shown in the photo, and others " plastic auto"Developed in the USSR in different time were just two-door sedans. Which is 100% consistent with the ideology discussed above.

fastback, it. schrägheck - sloping rear part) is the collective name for various types of car bodies with a sloping roof shape, smoothly, without a step that goes into the trunk lid. In addition, in the past, in some countries, the term “fastback” was used to refer to a specific body type; nowadays, such a designation is often used by collectors, and often more widely than in the years of the existence of such cars.

Definition

Nowadays, the term "fastback" is usually used precisely to distinguish a car with a sloping roof and a fixed rear window from hatchbacks, and often to emphasize its sporty orientation. It is on this principle that the Mercedes-Benz CLS, which bears the commercial designation "four-door coupe", is called a fastback. On the other hand, history knows also opposite examples, when hatchbacks were commercially labeled "fastback" in order to emphasize the sporty orientation of the model, thus, this issue is debatable and largely depends on the policy of the manufacturer. This contradiction can be resolved in this way [ ] :

• the term "fastback" in the meaning body shape describes any car with a sloping roof - for example, some hatchbacks and liftbacks, sedans like the Victory, or station wagons like the 1983 Audi 100 Avant;
• the term "fastback" in the meaning body type may mean, among other things, a body that resembles a hatchback in shape, but does not have a door in the rear wall, with a fixed rear window and a conventional trunk lid under it.

Fastback aerodynamics

In the 1920s and 1930s, the creators of cars with a teardrop-shaped rear part of the body, as a rule, pursued a purely utilitarian goal - to improve streamlining by reducing aerodynamic drag. This is what was stated as the main advantage of fastback in popular science publications of the 1930-1940s. Over time, it became obvious that from the point of view of aerodynamics, teardrop-shaped bodies were essentially unpromising for production cars: although, compared to the angular shapes of mass models of those years, they did give a tangible gain in streamlining, they did not have reserves for further improvement in relation to a general-purpose car. have had.

Back in the 1930s, the Swiss aerodynamics specialist Wunibald Kamm found a better solution - the so-called "comeback", the same eight-meter perfectly streamlined "drop", but brought to an acceptable length due to the "chopped off" tail, replaced by a vertical rear wall of the body ... This body shape not only had good streamlining, but also created a downforce that improves the grip of the car's tires on the road, contributing to driving safety. However, for design reasons, the mass distribution of such bodies did not occur for a long time, since they did not fit into the prevailing ideas about the appearance of the car. It wasn't until the 1970s gasoline crisis that serious interest in Kamm's work was awakened. Some of the early comebacks of those years, such as the Citroën SM and Citroën CX, still reproduced the outline of the fastback, retaining its characteristic sloping roofline and long, sedan-like rear overhang and differing from typical fastbacks only by being more advantageous from a point of view. in terms of aerodynamics, a smaller angle of inclination of the rear wall of the body (only some crossovers, such as the Honda Crosstour and BMW X6, as well as specific luxury-sports five-door cars such as the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo, have such a shape out of modern cars), but over time they began to evolve in a different direction - towards a hatchback with a "chopped off" rear overhang and a vertical rear wall of the body.

In certain eras, cars were produced, the bodies of which were officially called fastbacks, or to which it has become customary to apply this term in our days.

Early developments

The first body of this type (but not yet called by this term) was created back in 1911 by the French designer L. Faure. His car on the serial chassis of the company "Gregoire" (Grégoire) had an "egg-shaped" (according to the original terminology) rear part of the body, which gave it a good streamlining for those years, in addition, it was noted that the car practically did not form a plume of dust when moving, which was typical for then bodies with a flat rear wall. Nevertheless, in those years, this type of body did not take root due to its unusualness and the poor combination of such a shape of the rear end with the design of cars of those years.

1930-1950s

In the mid-1930s, in an effort to improve the aerodynamics of the car, production models with a teardrop-shaped rear part of the body appeared, such as the Czechoslovak Tatra T77 and Tatra T87 (designer - Hans Ledwinka). In the long tail of the teardrop-shaped body, inconvenient for accommodating passengers, these models had an engine. There are also cars of "classic" layout with such a body shape.

Under the influence of the pioneer fastbacks of the 1930s, the shape of the bodies of mass models began to change - the rear wall from vertical becomes inclined forward, the contours are rounded. However, most designers have not gone further than this.

The peak of popularity of fastbacks came in the late 1940s - early 1950s, when they were included in the production program of many American manufacturers (Ford, Chevrolet, Pontiac and others) and were quite widespread in Europe - Pobeda M-20 (designer - Veniamin Samoilov), Borgward Hansa 2400, Ford Vedette and others.

The name "fastback" itself appeared in the United States in the late 1930s and was originally a brand name. Most cars with such a body were not called that at the time; only now this term is often extended to all similar cars of this era. So, "Pobeda" in all reference books is designated as a sedan, although the very term "fastback" in the USSR was known and was subsequently used in relation to it in a number of popular publications; in the case of Chevrolet vehicles, the term for the teardrop-shaped rear body was the Aerosedan used in the names of a number of models; Pontiac used notation Streamliner and Torpedo; Ford did not distinguish between this type of body used on the 1937-1948 models. In general, the style of cars of those years today is often collectively denoted by the word Streamline (English "streamline").

Meanwhile, by the mid-1950s, the production of mass models with a body of this type was largely phased out: fashion trends changed, and its low functionality was also revealed.

So, the deaf rear wall of the body with a small, strongly inclined glass gave poor visibility, the teardrop-shaped body shape reduced the space above the rear row of seats, access to the trunk was inconvenient (for many fastbacks of the first generation, it was generally carried out from inside the car, through the back of the rear sofa, for example, SAAB 92). As a result, the fastback body on general purpose vehicles was quickly replaced by the classic three-volume sedan type almost completely. Thus, the bodies, conventionally called in our time by the general term fastback, turned out to be a kind of transitional link from a two-volume sedan of the 1930s with a vertical rear wall of the body (GAZ M-1) to a three-volume sedan of the 1950s (GAZ-21).

After the mid-1950s, some rear-engined cars retained the teardrop-shaped rear end of the body, for which such a shape was to some extent justified, especially when it was necessary to locate a relatively high inline engine in the rear of the body, which can be successfully fit into the contours of a rather low three-volume sedan or the coupe was not easy, and individual sporty and emulating models, such as the Porsche 356, were more traditional than practical.

1960-1970s

In the 1960s, the desire to improve the appearance and, to a lesser extent, the aerodynamics of production vehicles led designers again to sloping roof bodies.

Back in the late 1950s, in the USA, then in Europe, cars with two-door coupe or hard-top bodies began to appear, having a very long roof that smoothly merges into the trunk - these were still three-volume bodies, but the general tendency to visually more streamlined shapes it can be traced well on them. In the early 1960s, such bodies became known as fasttop or sportsroof. So, the Ford Galaxie model "1963 1/2" (that is, presented in the middle of the 1963 model year) with a "two-door hardtop" body had a rectangular roof with a more sloping roof than that of a sedan, a rear pillar and a brand name Sportsroof... This car was originally created specifically for homologation in NASCAR Stock Car Racing. Subsequently name sportsroof was transferred to fastbacks of the firm "Ford".

The first real fastback in this era was the 1963 American Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray. He had a teardrop-shaped no longer the entire rear part of the body, but only the rear part of the roof, recessed into the usual angular base of the body.

The Sting Ray marked the beginning of a new surge in the popularity of fastbacks, however, most of them were still not teardrop-shaped at the back, but simply sloping, or gradually declining at the rear. In fact, the new generation fastbacks were a product of the evolution of the body type fasttop, in which the roof was extended back so much that it almost reached the rear wall of the trunk.

Due to the fashion for powerful and fast cars, such a body was very popular in the United States in the second half of the 1960s - early 1970s (a typical example is the Ford Mustang and many muscle cars) and caused numerous imitations in Europe and Asia (for example, the Ford Capri ). It is this type of body that begins to be associated with sportiness, as a result of which it practically replaces sports models with a teardrop-shaped rear part of the body in Europe (in practice, they are often more streamlined). As a rule, these were two-door sports cars, which were also called Sports coupé or Berlinetta.

Due to the use of very large, strongly curved rear windows on fastbacks of this generation, it was possible to solve the visibility problems quite satisfactorily. So, the 1964 Plymouth Barracuda fastback had the largest rear window in the world at that time. The main problem remained the low practicality of the trunk with such a roof configuration; although it was potentially large in size, access to luggage was inconvenient. The introduction of a folding rear seat back, as on the same "Barracuda", helped to solve this problem only in part.

Subsequently, this line of bodies received an additional door in the tailgate and became an analogue of European hatchbacks, which in Europe descended from station wagons, therefore they were mainly five-door and had a three-window sidewall, while American ones were mainly three-door (or, in American, two-door) and with a four-window sidewall. In the United States, for the first time, the term was used in relation to such bodies Sport Utility which means "sporty practicality". Currently, it is associated primarily with comfortable SUVs.

It was during these years that the term "fastback" began to be used as the opposite of the term "hatchback" and denoting a car with the same body shape, but without a door in the rear wall. During the first peak of popularity of fastbacks, such an opposition did not make sense, since hatchbacks had not yet become widespread in those years. In fact, the fastbacks of the 1960s turned out to be a kind of transitional link to the full-fledged hatchbacks of the 1970s.

A certain number of fastback cars appeared in Europe, for example, the Citroen CX and Volkswagen Passat B1, but they still remained a relatively rare exotic: the hatchback with a lifting door in the rear was already beginning to become the European mainstream.

Meanwhile, the demand for further improvement of the aerodynamics of cars in the 1970s caused a new wave of research, during which the optimal shape of the body "aerodynamic wedge" with a high and abruptly breaking back wall was revealed from this point of view and taking into account the optimal placement of passengers and cargo. This form of car automobile was implemented in the 1980s and became widespread thereafter.

Present time

In the 2010s, starting with the Mercedes-Benz CLS (2010), the fashion for bodies with a gradually declining sloping rear wall of the body, usually used on expensive sports cars, is reviving in Europe. Examples include the Audi A7 Sportback, BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo. Unlike the Mercedes that initiated this trend, which was a real four-door fastback with a conventional trunk lid, these cars have a glazed fifth door in the tailgate and are actually liftbacks, although manufacturers prefer to use original terms for them, such as the same Sportback.

Fastback

A two-volume passenger body with two or four side doors and two rows of seats. It is a type of coupe, but is designed to carry passengers. The roof slopes gently backwards like a hatchback, and the trunk is isolated from the passenger compartment like a sedan.

For frequent fastbacks they confuse or equate with a hatchback, but despite the external similarity, they have a striking difference - the fastback lacks a rear door, instead of it a trunk lid, thus. they cannot be equated, tk. The hatchback got its name only by the presence of a tailgate (see Hatchback)

This type of body became especially widespread along with the craze for aerodynamic forms in the 30s. The main advantages are the isolation of cargo from passengers like a sedan and at the same time better aerodynamics in comparison with it. Currently, it is practically not used.

Liftback

Three-volume passenger body with two or four side doors and two rows of seats. It has a "stepped" structure, like a sedan (at first glance, it is almost impossible to distinguish a liftback from a sedan), but luggage compartment not isolated from the passenger compartment by a stationary partition, but combined.

The trunk lid on the rear wall of the body starts from the roof and, by analogy with the hatchback, is called the door. but at the same time, when closed, it is difficult to call it a door. That. this body is a cross between a sedan and a hatchback. It arose as a result of the desire of engineers to combine the best qualities of these two bodies: the visual presence of a sedan and the functionality of a hatchback.

With a two-door design of this body do not confuse it with a coupe, because in this case, as in the case of a sedan, liftbacks have rear seats are made full-sized. And it serves for the transportation of passengers and goods, and quite large, for which he needs a back door.