Consider this, back in "the day" my parents had a 1979 corvette and just had me flop aroud in the rear cargo area when we went places. That is simply not allowed or acceptalbe or legale anymore. Kids need to be in a safety seet until they are like 20.... maybe not that old but you get the point. I would love a coupe but it is off my list for sure because of kids. Only reason.

 

Don't forget- car seats changed too. getting my three yr old in the back seat of the GTO was no problem- getting her in the back as an infant in the rear facing car seat was a nightmare. You literally had to strap the kid in and put the seat in sideways.

Strollers changed too- we had to look forever for a stroller that would actually fit in the trunk of the GTO. You don't just have a car seat and a stroller anymore- you have a travel system.

We made it through one kid with the GTO but after the second we needed a more door so we bought a Charger and shipped the goat up to my dad.

That being said, my youngest is now in a regular car seat and when she is two and can get herself strapped in herself we are going to look at a Challenger.

It's not that kids are new- the way we handle them is.

As far as women having more input- my wife was determined to drive the GTO the entire time. It wasn't until our older daughter took of in a parking lot when she was trying manage to get the huge car seat in the back that we considered a 4 door.

 

Coupe market collapsed for the same reason that the car market also collapsed... Buyers gravitated towards SUVs because of the value they offered compared to the similar prices commanded by cars/coupes.

The SUVs allowed the family a more liberal lifestyle and every person and their dog wanted to be part of the growing trend. At least that's the trend I see in Australia which is only now following the trend set by buyers the USA.

As AAAAAAA stated, once upon a time, you could travel in a car unrestrained. These days you need to have a car with enough space that can legally accommodate the kids and their child seats. The coupes don't have enough space to accommodate the kids as well as the groceries. And, i f you have enough kids you would also struggle to accommodate the groceries in your SUV.

In this environment, it's pretty hard to justify the means for a coupe especially if the wife has the last say and/or she doesn't drive a manual. And then there's fuel prices which fluctuate like crazy...

 

Exactly, when I was little my dad had a 1970 Monte Carlo I remember crawling up in the back seat and putting on the lap belt, but it was so loose it wouldn't have done any good if we were ever in an accident. Back then 2-door cars with kids was no big deal at all.

 

Hey -- sorry I didn't get to talk with you at Carlisle - saw you a couple of times, but didn't get over to sit and chat.

I agree with A.....I think B is a very large stretch -- and it ignores that there used to be a LOT of large coupes cruising around out there -- but as cars downsized, it became much harder to climb in and out of the back seat....

C? Ummmm....I don't buy it. 1FastDog is right -- all research points to the fact that people started to demand more utility........and I do mean ALL research..... You'll recall that around 2000, Ford was down to 4 coupes -- GM was still building:

>Monte
>Cavalier
>Camaro
>Corvette
>Firebird
>Grand Prix
>Grand Am
>Alero
>Eldo
>Saturn

............and the market continued to drop -- and as it did, other manufacturers dropped out as well.........

.............that's a function of a free-market.

...and for the record, no company threw every dime at making SUVs...if that were the case, there would have been no new passenger cars developed or launched.

That said, we've beat this horse to death: Manufacturers need to adopt to what the public wants -- it cost GM a stupid amount of money by NOT turning more plants to SUVs when that craze took off......

 

So that is what happened to you.

Actually, this makes perfect sense now. Cars seats have changed. Travel systems have changed. Getting a car seat into and out of my Formula was so much of a pain.

With all of this, Fbodfather has the best point. They were still being offered, but people quit buying them. Look at the numbers today of sales of coupes. It is a very small number.

 

FWIW, I am 43, married, have two college aged kids and have never owned a 4-door sedan.

1st car '67 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu HT
2nd car '68 Chevrolet Camaro RS
3rd car '89 Nissan 240SX
4th car '95 Camaro Z/28

In between I've also had a few trucks and a couple SUVs (wife's) but never owned a sedan... ever!

I've always preferred coupes and plan for my next new car purchase to be a coupe. I guess I haven't grown up yet.

 

And trust me, putting a rear facing car seat into your 95 Camaro would make that front seat unusable. I had this in my formula. My wife would have to sit in the back. No way to get a family of 4 into that car when one child is in a rear facing seat.


So, did you have children in car seats? Were they like todays car seats? Did you just take the wifes when you took children? Or... maybe you haven't grown up yet

 

Wife's SUV. She had a 2-door Blazer, which she replaced with a 4-door Blazer when the kids were out of car seats, which we replaced with a 4-door Tahoe when they got bigger and started playing basketball.

 

I hate to point out the negative, but as great as the Camaro is, it is still comming back off an 8 year hiatus. productioin started in March, which means its only been running what 4 months? To me its the prettiest coupe on the market. Seems to me Ford was in the position GM is now in 2005 and that was before they had, two other pony cars, the Genisys and the market got bad.

Im not trying to rain on anyones parade, it just seems some are overly hopeful. My brother bought his 335i because of its performance, size and that it was 4 door because he was starting a family. Some people are unwilling to buy a coupe with kids.