Saloon cars, why?

i mean, they’re worse in every way than a hatch or estate, yet some people like them, but what’s the appeal?

i get for some high performance cars (M5 etc) they can be made stiffer, but that doesn’t matter to most. There must be a benefit I’m missing?

Even worse is people who buy saloon versions of hatchback cars. WTF is wrong with those people!?!?

Just a traditional hangover I think.

Although most ‘saloons are just larger hatchbacks these days anyway..

Ladies and gentlemen, the vauxhall nova saloon

If you don’t need the practicality, you might as well benefit from the marginal benefit of a stiffer chassis.  More secure boot – might be stretching it a bit?

Historical appeal of them being higher end than hatchback alternatives?  That has gone out of the window a bit with prestige German manufacturers offering more expensive ‘sportback’ versions of existing saloons though.

So, no, can’t think of any good reasons 😬

That Nova saloon was almost the most tragic thing

Only ever had one in my life, didn’t keep it for long.

Really don’t see the point on them.

With a non folding rear seat you get a more secure boot and unlike an estate the fact the boot is always covered conveys no suggestion of whether it’s empty or full of something you don’t want people to see. It’s just shut. Might explain why they are quite popular in some countries.

If my hobbies didn’t involve large awkward shaped bits of kit to put inside the car and a need for a handy picnic bench/somewhere to get changed slightly awkwardly I’d not care what shape my car was.

I’ve owned one saloon car, it was ok.

After that of course I’ve had nothing but hatchbacks and estates, which are much better suited to outdoor life. Of course a van would be better still but then it wouldn’t be great for all the solo work driving I have to do. Compromise….

I’ve got one, I’m a photographer, most of the photographers I know also have saloon cars as hatchbacks and estates get broken into far more often, I’m on a couple of work FB groups and pretty much every time someone gets their kit nicked from their car it’s from an opportunist thief smashing a rear window in a hatch or estate and getting lucky. Quite afew use cages in estates or hatchbacks but kind of defeats the point of them IMO.

I know boots are easy to break into but it just doesn’t happen as often.

I’d love an estate for biking/ camping etc but just not worth the agg.

Would they not be a bit quieter and easier to regulate the temperature?

That Nova saloon was almost the most tragic thing

I used to rock one of these, well it was my mums before I could afford a car. Manual choke yall..

I’m an unabashed fan of big saloon cars.  They just look ‘right’.  They look like a car.

The proportions are nicer than a hatch or pseudo-saloon.  They’re always quieter due to the solid parcel shelf and back seats.

I think the lines of mine are just perfect…

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bmw/3-series/104357/the-new-bmw-3-series-will-make-saloons-trendy-again

I know boots are easy to break into but it just doesn’t happen as often

The boot on my ’88 mini was broken into (nicked the face plate from my stereo i’d stupidly put in there.)

Original mini was a saloon!

I think the lines of mine are just perfect…

Are one of the pictures of a different car? I hope so, or your wheels are on backwards lol!

Not good for directional tyres :/

Are one of the pictures flipped? I hope so, or your wheels are on backwards lol!

Ha!  Never noticed that!  Top one isn’t actually my car, bottom one is.  I got the top picture from the internet when I was deciding if I wanted to spec drug-dealer glass for the back windows.

That said, the wheels are a single design, so both sides of the car do look different if you look closely.  Never bothered me, as I love the design of the wheel.

t’other side…

That Nova saloon was almost the most tragic thing

I raise you the Ford Orion.

That’s seriously messing with my OCD now…but I suppose you’d have to have specific left and right wheels for that design..

Are one of the pictures flipped? I hope so, or your wheels are on backwards lol!

That would not matter. In one shot the spokes at pointing forwards and the other backwards. Awkward.

edit – different cars.

p.s. use a polarising filter when taking a photo of your car next – makes so much difference.

@bensales – lovely looking car, there’s one in silver outside my house at the moment. A loaner for the red one that father in law owns that is needing full wiring loom, replacement of seemingly most sensors in the thing, and a month in Jaguar still can’t say what’s wrong. Looks nice though.

That’s seriously messing with my OCD now

Drug dealer glass does this for me. Every window in a car should be the same tint.

@matt_outandabout Thanks, I love it.  That’s actually my first one.  I’m on my second now that doesn’t have tinted windows in the back, and it looks much nicer…  Still got the same wheels though 🙂

I’ve had no issues with it, although Jaguar do seem to still suffer from Friday-afternooners.

Oh, the Nova saloon definitely trumped the Orion in the tragic stakes

The Sweeny used a big saloon, so there you go…thankfully BL never made a Maestro saloon, that would have trumped the Nova.

The reversed wheels on that Jag would REALLY bother me if it was mine.  Other than that it is a nice looking car.

Saloons is nice –

Focus saloon is worse than either the nova or orion.

Edit: 2002 version. New one is still goping, just less so.

The maestro saloon was basically the montego.  Sort of.  Shared lots of parts anyway.

Vauhall Belmont was almost as bad as the Nova saloon.

the bodies are easier to hide in a boot.

The only ‘saloon’ car I’ve owned was a ‘gentleman’s sporting saloon’ like this:

Citroen Light 15

Mine was a pretty rare, pre-war UK built model which plenty of wood and leather – the back seat was just a big leather sofa – you could lie back with your legs straight out and not touch the front seats! 2 litre engine and once you got it up to speed it could easily hold 70mph in modern traffic.

Love a good saloon me. We’re on our third. As above, I feel they are proportionally “right” – well, those that were originally designed to be a saloon like the 3 series, e-class, etc. The focus mk1 saloon has got to be one of the ugliest saloons around!

I also think l they’re more refined, there is proper separation between the cabin area and the boot/rear axle and they’re quieter on a run. But mainly they’re just cooler – you’d never see a hatchback in a ganster movie.. too easy for the guy locked in the boot to smash thru the parcel shelf. Estates/hatchbacks are more practical therefore saloons are cool.

I’d take a jag with funny wheels over an alpha any day.. Alphas just look odd to me … They almost look good but can’t quite seem to manage it..

Saloons are incredibly popular in Europe and airways have been, which is why they make loads of them…Clio saloon, VW Jetta, Mégane saloon, Dacia, Volvo 340 etc.

It’s the Brits that stand out by predominantly buying hatchbacks

More secure boot – I get that.

Comments about saloon versions of hatches – amen.

i don’t deny some saloons look good (fast early 90s E class anyone?) but then plenty hatches or estates do too.

Some saloon cars are ok, I had two of these, might still have one of them if a drunk had t run into the back of it outside the house. 😢

You could drop the back of the rear seat to push large items through from the boot, which was handy.

IMHO they do most jobs very well.

Boots are big enough, perhaps ironically the boot in the saloon version of my estate has a slightly bigger boot by volume.

They’re quieter like for like than an estate or hatch and some people don’t need much more boot space than 6 bags from Tesco.

There’s probably aero advantages and they’re typically lighter too.

Having said that, they are an absolute pain in the arse when trying to clean the inside of the rear window!

Generally considered more aesthetically pleasing. (important to many people when purchasing)

Less road noise from rear wheels.

Boot is viewed as more secure.

Sometimes lighter.

You can safely leave heavy stuff unsecured in the boot of a saloon.

Sometimes stiffer.

Rear window stays cleaner

Less air volume to heat/cool

I have had saloons in the past, currently use van or estate, much more practical.

I have a saloon cos that’s what was on the forecourt. I’d prefer an estate for practicality, but I think the saloon is quieter in terms of road noise. But more usefully you can chuck stuff in the boot and it can rattle as much as it likes, you can’t hear it in the cabin. I used to have to pack bikes really carefully in a hatchback to avoid the tinkling of things on spokes. Ok so in a saloon I can only get kids bikes, 26ers and road bikes in there, but it takes more bike then you’d think. And it’s out of sight too.

The wheels on the Jag are wrong. Lazy gits couldn’t be bothered to do it properly with left and right specific wheels.

Saloons are for people trying to pretend their semi practical car is a sports car. Other than the odd Alfa I can’t think in a saloon that actually looked nice either. They mostly look awkward.