A notchback is a type of car with a distinct engine, passenger, and cargo section, identified by the way the rear window meets the trunk lid. It is a three-box design that grew out of the pontoon style, and can be applied to a wide variety of vehicles produced since the 1940s. The angle at which the rear window meets the rear deck is not necessarily important when defining a vehicle as a notchback.
A notchback is a type of car that falls into the more general category of three-box styling. Like other vehicles with a three-box styling, the rear notches can be identified as having distinct engine, passenger, and cargo sections when viewed in profile. The term notchback refers specifically to the way the raked rear window meets the trunk lid, as it can look like a notch has been cut out of the rear of a two-bed pickup. Most notches are sedans or coupes, though there are some exceptions. Hatches or lifts may belong to the group if they have some type of horizontal cover that can identify the vehicle as a three-box design.
The notch design movement can be seen as an extension of the three-box style, which itself grew out of the type of pontoon or envelope style that became popular in areas such as Europe and the United States during the 1930s. The Ponton style generally consists of on design elements like integrated bumpers, lack of running boards, and the kind of wraparound body styles still prevalent in modern auto design. The three-box style incorporated these same features, but created vehicles with well-defined engine, passenger, and cargo compartments. All notches are three-box designs, but the reverse may not be true. Some three-box design vehicles may have rounded rear decks or other design features that could prevent them from being considered as notchbacks.
As a descriptive term, notchback is very general and can be applied to a wide variety of vehicles produced since the 1940s. It has also sometimes been used as a marketing term, usually to differentiate vehicles within the same line. The same vehicle may have been available in hatchback or notchback editions, for example, and the rear notches were typically sedans rather than coupes. Other vehicles may be marketed as sedans or coupes while exhibiting classic notchback styling.
The angle at which the rear window meets the rear deck is not necessarily important when defining a vehicle as a notchback. On most notchback vehicles, the rear window forms an obtuse angle to the deck lid when viewed in profile. Others can form a sharp angle, and may also be known as rakebacks. Some variants may also have a rear window capable of sliding up and down, or a convertible top, as these are not considered styling defining features.
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