Torpedo (car) explained

The torpedo body style was a type of automobile body used from 1908 until the mid-1930s, which had a streamlined profile and a folding or detachable soft top. The design consists of a hood or bonnet line raised to be level with the car's waistline, resulting in a straight beltline from front to back.^[1]

The name was introduced in 1908 when Captain Theo Masui, the London-based importer of French Gregoire cars, designed a streamlined body and called it "The Torpedo".^[2]

The Torpedo body style was usually fitted to four- or five-seat touring cars (cars without a fixed roof) with detachable or folding roof, and low side panels and doors. Torpedo cars did not have B pillars, so the only uprights present were those supporting the windshield.

Similar styles are phaeton and baquet.^[3]

The name is also used for trucks with a hood or bonnet.^{[4] [5]}

Notes and References

1. Book: Roberts, Peter . Veteran and Vintage Cars . 1974 . Octopus Books . London, UK . 0-7064-0331-2 . 111 . Carriage to Car . Torpedo – Continental term for an open four-seat car with soft hood and sporting tendencies and in which the line of the bonnet was continued back to the rear of the car..
2. Book: Wood, Jonathan . Coachbuilding – The Hand Crafted Car Body . 2008 . Shire Publications . Oxford, UK . 978-0-7478-0688-2.
3. Web site: Antique, Vintage and Classic Car Terms and Definitions. 2024-05-10. antiquecar.com.
4. Book: Brunninge, Olof . Lerpold . Lin . Ravasi . Davide . van Rekom . Johan . 3 . Soenen . Guillaume . Organizational Identity in Practice . https://books.google.com/books?id=Jh3Y18pudt8C&pg=PA24 . 2024-05-10 . 2007 . Routledge . Abingdon, Oxford, UK . 978-0-415-39839-8 . 24 . 1, Scania's bonneted trucks . When cabs were modularized in the 2-series in 1980, the first version to be launched was the bonneted cab, the so-called T-cab, with a torpedo-like design..
5. Book: Peck, Colin . DAF Trucks Since 1949 . https://books.google.com/books?id=1q2-Wvd2eX0C&pg=PA17 . 2024-05-10 . 2010 . Veloce Publishing . Poundbury, Dorset, UK . 978-1-845842-60-4 . 19 . The 1950s – new factories, new trucks and buses . To meet the more conservative demands of specific sectors of the market, DAF introduced its first bonneted truck in 1957, with mechanical specifications similar to the cab-over-engine models. Generically known as the 'Torpedo' series, these new trucks were initially supplied as a chassis and bonnet, allowing coachbuilders to construct the cabs..