fourdoor

Fourdoor, commonly written four-door or 4-door, refers to a passenger vehicle body style with two front doors and two rear doors, enabling access to both rows of seating. The term is used across car types, including sedans, hatchbacks, SUVs, and vans, and is often contrasted with two-door configurations.

History and scope: The four-door layout arose in the early 20th century as enclosed passenger compartments became standard. By the mid-20th century, four-door sedans became the dominant family and business vehicle in many markets, prized for rear-seat access and capacity. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, four-door hatchbacks and four-door SUVs broadened the category, offering versatility in a single vehicle.

Variants: A four-door sedan typically features a conventional trunk; a four-door hatchback mounts a rear cargo door behind the rear seats. Some manufacturers market four-door coupes, a marketing term for four-door models with a coupe-like silhouette, though not all markets treat these as a distinct class.

Characteristics and implications: Four-door layouts emphasize practicality and accessibility, particularly for families or shared use. They support modern safety and comfort features, larger interiors, and easier ingress for children or elderly passengers. Drawbacks can include higher weight, greater size, and potentially higher cost, though advances in engineering have mitigated these factors.

See also: Car body style, Sedan, Hatchback, SUV, Vehicle categorization.