History 2 doors vs 4 doors

AND I NOTICED YOU LIKE ORANGE HUBCAPS,


To me anything looks cool, lowered with "right" wheels and tires.
even old milk trucks... stance and wheels tires, bring 'em on...
yeah baby !!!

 

Hello,

Our cars have always been 2 doors. (Model A coupe,51 Olds sedan, 58 Impala, 40 Willys coupe, 49 VW split window, sunroof, 2 separate 40 Ford Sedan Deliveries, 61 Corvair coupe, 65 and 72 El Camino) My dad went from a 2 door 41 Buick coupe to a 4 door 49 Buick when he realized that two little boys were growing faster than weeds. So, from the 49 4 door, it was a 52 4 door, and finally, when the two boys were driving age, back to a 57 Buick 2 door Roadmaster. From that point on, when his two boys had fast, racy 2 door cars, he stayed with 2 door Buicks, 2 Rivieras(63,68), 2 other Regals, until his last drive in his 83 G body Regal. But, our choices were always 2 doors.

Now, 4 doors are again, the thing to do as families and a granddaughter with all of the “accessories” demand more room, but easier access. When she was little, it was so hard to move her in and out of a car seat in a 2 door coupe. Now, growing like another weed, she can get in and out without adult supervision. Less work for us and more enjoyment. We still have the 2 door mentality, but the daily driver is obviously a 4 door, but not sacrificing being cool and fast.

Build wise, if another project was going to start, it would be a 2 door wagon with all of the necessities for old age, comfortable, lots of power, handling and driving, but with the cool looks of a lowered, 55-57 Nomad or…This wagon:

A modified photo by our resident expert …“The Moose”… a lowered 65 Chevelle 2 door Wagon with american 5 spoke mags or the Moon aluminum discs. Thanks, Moose...
Jnaki

4 door comparison in styles:
a 4 door hardtop 56 Chevy

This was taken in 1959, four ladies out for a cruise in a 4 door. Typical family car for daily driving and high school cruising.

 

I like the looks of the 2dr Wagon you want. I am in the process of doing one now in a similar gray color and a red interior. I started my design by building a diecast model before cutting up the real car. It was originally a 4dr and I have made the conversion to a 2dr and added some Nomad influenced design features.

 

Hello Ray,
Nice work. Yours will be a show stopper, one of a kind. Nice model, too. I like simple looking cars with comfort, power, and handling all in one. A/C is a must, so more power is necessary to overcome the HP loss from the A/C.
Jnaki

 

First car I ever bought was a 61 Impala 4dr ht, 348/3 speed, the last car I bought was a 96 Impala SS.
A four door also, I MUST be getting old. In between, I had/have all 2 doors.
57 BelAir 2dr ht 283/4 speed
65 ElCamino 327/4 speed
65 Chevelle 355/4 speed, put this engine in ElCamino while rebuilding 327.
64 Chevelle 2 dr station wagon 425 Olds/4 speed
64 Impala 327/4 speed
70 Maverick, former SOHC powered pro stocker, 357 sbc, turbo 400
67 Nova SS 327/4 speed
66 Suburban 357/turbo 350
32 hiboy 427 Rodeck sbc/4 speed
Do you see a pattern here ?

 

I actually prefer 1932-34 Fords as Fordors than Tudors. They look classier and have the bench seat up front.

 

Now that you mention it, I do see a pattern.
Most of the cars were built in the '60's.

 

When I see 6 side Windows

 

I'm a 2dr guy but this survivor has my attention .

 

A friend of mine in high school ('70-'71) had a '65 Chevelle 4 door that was handed down to him from his grandmother. He got a lot of razzing until the summer between our jr. and sr. year we put a 396, Muncie 4 speed and a 12 bolt with 4.11 gears into it. Put the widest 70 series tires that fit the stock rims and kept the hub caps. Hard to keep the tires from lighting up off the line but it still looked like a "Grandma go to church" car. The ultimate sleeper. Word got around pretty quick and after a few of the midnight drags out in the boonies. He earned his street cred after that.

 

Boy that sounds like fun, kind of a poor mans Z-16.

 

Friend of mine back in our teenage days had a patina ed 4 door 65 chevelle with rallies and a six in it that he kind of drove around for a daily with no shame but he did also have street bikes and usually a more commonly considered cool car at home for weekends etc. 67 to 69 camaros or 67 to 74 novas, one real nice 74 SS etc.
He usually had at least one other cool car but he liked the old 4 door malibu and didnt care if anyone else liked it or not and that is what made it as cool or more so than the others

 

I have a wagon 56 4 door, It makes a good pit vehicle and parts hauler when needed. A 2 door price point made it what I needed as a driver....and left money for my new Car Lift... I run it for fun at events, Tri Five Nationals and Meltdown Drags etc. Overall 2 Doors will always be sportier, and more the Hot Rod standard. To each his own.....

@ Bowling Green 2015

 

Back in the late 40s and early 50s my Dad always bought new 2 doors because they cost less than 4 doors so we always had "cool" looking Fords.

 

2 door guy here - ESPECIALLY if its a wagon !

Oldmics

 

As a general rule, I have never been a fan of 4 doors. We would pull the motor out of a nice one to put into a beat up 2 door way more often than not. 53 CHKustom posted some pics of his today that may just change my way of thinking though. But in my neck of the woods, when I was a teenager, 4 doors and wagons (except 2 door wagons), were old stodgy cars your blue haired grandma would drive.

 

This is a lot like the LWB vs SWB truck argument...side A says side B is compensating for something, and side B says side A is a bleeding heart conformist pansy, while we independents who just like old cars/trucks/bikes/boats sit back and enjoy the show.

There is only ONE car that I demand a two-door version of, and at that the coupe instead of the more common two-door sedan: a 1949 Chevy. My own hypocrisy? Nah...they just have a design that strikes my inner automotive pervert. Never has another vehicle had a design whose curves and proportion, being devoid of unnecessary baubles and/or excessive chrome, equals (in my twisted mind anyway) the most beautiful women I've ever/never seen combined into one timeless, drop-dead-gorgeous example. Not in a porn kind of way, more like a painting by one of the great masters.

Yeah, I'm weird, but I like it

(edited to add the following)
I like what Ryan said a few years back, in the mo' doors = mo' fun? thread:

"The unintelligent / "just got into cars" answer - All four doors suck!

The intelligent / "passionate car guy" answer - A four door will never be a two door, but there are some that shouldn't want to be anyway..."

 

I have to say after fooling around with building hot rods for the past 30 or 40 years that I put 4 doors, 4 door wagons, and long bed pick ups all in the same category. They can be a nice car/truck when up-dated or re-work, repainted or re-wheeled but that is as far as they go. To each his or her own, each can be built to ride and look great and can be obtain usually at a lower entry cost.

 

this has 4 doors......... Ha Ha

 

Did I mention I had a 64 Malibu 2 door station wagon?

 

I agree. The Wagon I really wanted never came in a 2 door so with the right donor parts, I made my own.

 

Really cool metal work..

 

Okay, so I hit high school in '78, and at the time, if you drove a four door to school, you might as well have painted "kick me" or "lock me in my gym locker" on your back. Period. You didn't drive a four door to school, and showing up on Central in one would net you pointing and laughter in your direction. NO FOUR DOORS!!!

In '91, I was stopped at the light in front of Central High as school let out, and to my abject horror, kids were happily piling into four doors.... Little, egg shaped, white four doors, with as much personality as my toaster. Less actually, as I make my toast everyday in a restored late thirties chrome jobbie, so somebody ELSE'S toaster. ARRRGHHHH!

I thought about it for days. I wrote myself a two page essay about the death of cool. I fretted about how the world could fall this far. Then a friend told me, "look around, NOTHING is a two door these days, these kids don't know any better". He was right of course...

Yet, I still hated four doors.

Then, in '11, a AAA ramp truck backed into my driveway with a the humble remains of a '62 Falcon four door wagon aboard, followed by Judy yelling at me on the phone in her usual incoherent Chinese-Engrish, "You make wagon wok for me!". Then I really started looking at how clean this stupid thing was... Hell the odo showed 58,000 miles. A sticker in the rear window tipped me to the fact that I had seen this car a good 20 years earlier, and I was re-introduced to an elderly gentleman that had been a grounds keeper at place nearby, and was the original owner. Then a picture showed up on a local history page, of a Falcon wagon driving down Van Buren in '67. A little digital hokus-pokus, and the picture proved to be THIS car!

Long story short, I got it together, and she drove it about 1 1/2 miles, total. I switched it off to my daily, first hanging my head low, and searching for a pair of two doors. Then something happened - I drove it about 30 miles north to a client's house, with a Model "A" rear end on board, a regular tool box, my 1/2" drive stuff in a box, my hydraulic plumbing box, and my wiring box... Dammit if I didn't have a door for every tool box, and a tailgate to work on! Wait, a four door isn't horrible, at least for a wagon!

Ya, my cold, near dead heart fell for a four door. The lifetime coolness factor of the Fonz X 10+ was gone. I resisted the urge to get involved in musical theater, but just barely. I loved a four door...

Will I own another one? Maybe. Will i drag home every stray quattro porte that comes my way? Nope, unless it had a pair of two doors in the trunk, or it's a wagon...

 

The only problem with a four door for me isn't the number of doors so much. It the proportions that bother me. I'll use this 63 BelAir as an example. The door's are great they are a near 50-50 meaning the front door does not look smaller. Now, since this is a post car and making a car your own is what we do, I'd remove the wind wing because just that little pie shape window makes the back door glass seem bigger and throws everything off for me. But that's just me. If you look at my avatar you'll notice my 56 has no wind wings also and it's a 2 door. Why ? The back glass is really long. As the thread said, it's all about the cool and every eye is different in what they see. I see 2 doors as being cooler because they for the most part where hard tops are concerned have a smaller 1/4 glass so I just trump things up a bit.

 

It still astounds me when I tell guys that have been in the hobby 35-40 years, that I have a 1962 & 1966 Belair wagons, and they want to know if it's a 2 door or 4 door. I guess growing up around wagons, I knew better.

 

My Merc is a 4 door, but it was a good deal and a super nice car. I prefer a 2 door, but the ole ball & chain likes the big back doors and that's where the dog and her ride. I don't believe anyone ever made a 4 door from a 2 door, but it sure goes the other way.

 

There's a few nice 4dr projects on CL around here if you're looking.
57 Chevy, 58 brookwood wagon, and a nice 63 Chevy that's ready to drive for cheap.

 

Ran across this and had to share somewhere, Man, Isnt this a beautiful car? even if you arent so taken with it that it makes you want to buy it, Isnt it sweet? If I were rich and had many, It would be in my collection (Even tho its pretty original I would want some deep tones bellowing out of some dual exhaust like that single on there)
https://altoona.craigslist.org/cto/5927541181.html

 

Looks like a '55 that just rolled off the assembly line.

 

That car does it for me, anyone that actually just thinks that a time capsule like that is just a "parts car" might be missing their chromosome #2.....