Saloon cars

A saloon is a car with a boot that’s separate from the main passenger area of the car. In profile, this creates a silhouette of three distinct shapes or ‘boxes’. Traditionally, the saloon body style is more common in large luxury models but many smaller model ranges also offer saloon versions.

Saloon cars differ from hatchbacks because they have a separate boot that’s reached by a lid hinged under the rear window. Hatchbacks have a full-height boot lid that includes the back window.

Since all estate cars have a hatchback boot lid the difference between a saloon car and an estate car is the same as the difference between a saloon and a hatchback. Whereas a saloon has a ‘three-box’ shape and a boot lid hinged below the back window, an estate has a ‘two-box’ shape and a boot lid hinged from the roof.

The term ‘saloon car’ was originally used to refer to the luxury carriages on a train. It was adopted by British car manufacturers in the early part of the 20th century to help promote their more luxurious models.