Coupe generally refers to a two-door car with a sloping back roofline. The earliest mention of the coupe was as a horse-drawn carriage as it got its name and body structure from the shortened version of the berline horse-drawn carriage produced in the 18th century. Some four-door cars with sloping back roofline are now also referred to as coupe, but they aren’t—they’re Sedans.
Over the years, different car manufacturers have built various models of coupe. These cars have become a mainstay in the automotive sphere judging by its success and wide acceptance by car lovers. For an in-depth foray into Coupe’s wide acceptance, we hereby take a look at the 10 most popular Coupes ever made.
10 TOYOTA GT86
The 2018 sixth-largest company in the world by revenue is credited with producing the GT86—yes, it’s the Toyota Motor Corporation. Released in 2012, the GT86 is a total package of great value and fun in a beautiful and eye-catching structure.
What the GT86 lacks in power it made up for in performance. It’s such a lovely and enjoyable car to drive at such a little price, and these incredibly unique qualities at a low price have endeared the GT86 to car enthusiasts worldwide, thereby regarded as a cheaper alternative to the pricier Mustangs and Camaros.
9 CHEVROLET CORVETTE
The Chevy Corvette has been in production for over 60 years and has undergone variation in design a total of seven times until the present model. General Motors designer Harley Earl invented the Corvette all in a bid to build an American sports car that can challenge rivals on the race track.
The idea didn’t get a great start as only 300 units of the Corvette were sold that year. Patronage and ownership of the Corvette kept soaring with newer models leading to the eventual sale of over 1.5 million Corvettes in total.
8 DODGE CHALLENGER
The Dodge challenger has been in existence since 1969. This iconic brand is as popular as a brand can get as evident by its longevity and sales volume. Currently, in its 50th year of production, the Dodge Challenger has undergone a series of changes and redesigns for better all-round performance.
Even though the press dropped some harsh criticisms of the Dodge Challenger upon its first release, it did little to deter Dodge enthusiasts as the vehicle recorded a sale totaling 76,935 units for its first production year. A true challenger.
7 CHEVROLET CAMARO
General Motors released the Chevrolet Camaro as a quick response to the growing popularity of the Mustang. The Camaro never really topped the Mustang, but it made some decent sales and created enough buzz to merit a place on this list. Currently, in its sixth generation, the Camaro went on sale in 1966 with a total of 220,906 units sold for that year model.
A series of improvements and upgrades in subsequent models ensured that the Camaro remained a household name even if it never outdid the Mustang in sales. Over 5 million Camaros have been sold to date.
6 AUDI TT
The 1998 Paris auto show was a blast for many reasons, and unveiling the Audi TT was one of them. Built on a sleek and beautiful body shape which was designed by Freeman Thomas and J Mays, the Audi TT was love at first sight for automobile enthusiasts. The TT has since grown in performance and handling with the 2003 Model having an automatic transmission—this wasn’t present in earlier models.
The TT broke into the automobile world turning heads, and, with an upgraded model being released yearly, it still does.
5 PORSCHE 911
Porsche AG is a super brand. This German automobile company has a reputation so big that anything they touch turns to gold. The Volkswagen group struck sales and marketing gold with the conception and manufacture of Porsche 911 in 1963. As of May 2017, 911 had sold its 1 millionth unit, making it one of the oldest and best-selling coupe still in production.
The 911’s performance has earned it various prestigious car awards like the “World Performance Car of the Year” in 2014 while also named “the best premium sports car on the market” in 2015 by Car and Driver.
4 MERCEDES-BENZ E-CLASS (C207)
Mercedes-Benz being a super brand knew it has to cater to coupe enthusiasts, therefore the brand decided to add some little tweaks to the W204 C-Class sedan to birth both the C207 and A207. Manufactured in Bremen, Germany, the C207 was introduced to the world at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show.
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class (C207) was made in both petrol and diesel engine options while also offered in both manual and automatic transmissions. The C207 was a fan favorite for all the qualities it offered and also won Germany’s most beautiful coupe award for 2009.
3 BMW 2 SERIES (F22)
The BMW would have felt hard done as an automobile company if none of its Models had made it to this list, but the 2 Series F22 from the German company came to its rescue through awesome performance and decent sales. A subcompact executive car, the BMW 2 Series F22 was released to succeed the E82 1 Series coupe.
The North American International Auto Show witness the premiere of the F22 while sales began in March 2014. With special models, upgraded year models and sale totaling over 500,000 units, the F22 is a fan favorite.
2 FORD MUSTANG
Ford released a press update as of August 2018 that it had made 10 million Mustangs. This incredible figure makes the Ford Mustang one of the best-selling and most popular Coupe models and the president of global markets at Ford, Jim Farley, couldn’t hide his emotions as he said at the occasion. “I get the same thrill seeing a Mustang roll down a street in Detroit, London or Beijing that I felt when I bought my first car…” he said.
Ford Mustang's unwavering success as a model is attributed to consistent effort at producing a modern, affordable and top-performing sports car.
1 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE
The Volkswagen beetle is the most popular Coupe ever made. This statement shouldn’t even be rivaled or debated by anyone, as it’s probably almost impossible not to have driven or known about this car as a young adult. Although the Beetle was designed by Ferdinand Porsche, the German dictator Adolf Hitler conceived the original idea of producing cheap cars which led to the conceptualization of the Beetle.
Over 23.5 million units of the Beetle have been sold worldwide making it the best, selling and most popular coupe of all time—an automobile icon!