Growing up in the 1970s it was by then generally accepted that 'cool' cars were two door hardtops. This trend had a few small steps in the 1950s from cars like the Studebaker Hawk or even the tri-five Chevys. The pillar-less look became de rigueur and even became applied to four door sedans and wagons. Into the sixties with the advent of the pony car and other sporty coupes the more practical four-door became the car for people who preferred practicality over style. In other words, people who didn't much care about cars or style bought them.
Today the four door sedan is ubiquitous, even in a sea of SUVs. Two door cars sell poorly unless they are sporty cars like Mustangs. So undesired is the two door car today that Dodge manufactures the Charger as a sedan. This is not to say that cars with more than two doors are necessarily boring. The Cadillac CTS-V, Impala SS, Taurus SHO and any number of German cars all provide performance in a multi-door package. There has been a near one hundred eighty degree shift in buyer wants and demands since the heady pony car days of the 1960s. Yet if you are a fan of cars from that period no one will understand you purchasing or restoring a sedan. They aren't regarded as cool and you will find yourself ostracized frequently in a manner familiar to any six cylinder Mustang owner.
With the popularity of sixties muscle/pony cars the prices have risen to sometimes frightening levels. Many enthusiasts are priced out of the market. If you really want a Chevelle, Satellite or Falcon but can't pay the entry fee for a two door hardtop is the four door sedan really an option? Drivetrains were fairly standardized and most anything can be bolted into any chassis. Buy-in is cheap and parts for sedans are not in high demand which should make them affordable (though not necessarily easier to find). The extra doors are practical for families or eminently useful for race cars as roll cages are easier to install and the extra space can be handy for hauling tires and equipment to the track. Lastly, for a certain few of us the uniqueness in a sea of two doors may actually be an attraction.
The Australians regard our obsession with coupes as a little peculiar. Throughout much of the muscle car era they had to make do with high performance versions of standard four door cars such as the Falcon pictured above. Dressed in appropriate muscle car wear and sporting a shaker scoop it is readily apparent what the car is built for. Respected down-under, that same car in the U.S. would likely generate snickers and heads shaking in disbelief. However, I suspect the Aussie Falcon owner is having just as much fun as the American who has two fewer doors.
As I daydream about a future build of a 1960s classic I contemplate the
