View source for Liftback

{{Short description|Automotive body style}}
[[File:1973 Toyota Celica 02.jpg|thumb|1973 [[Toyota Celica]], one of the world's first "liftbacks", in this case a [[fastback]]-styled [[hatchback]]<ref name="Petrolicious">{{cite web|url=https://petrolicious.com/articles/this-toyota-celica-liftback-gt-beautifully-couples-japanese-and-american-design|title=This Toyota Celica Liftback GT Beautifully Couples Japanese And American Design|date=15 May 2017|publisher=Petrolicious (U.S.)| first = Alex | last = Sobran|access-date=7 September 2020}}</ref><ref name="Hemmings">{{cite web|url=https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/1971-77-toyota-celica|title=1971-'77 Toyota Celica|date=1 January 2016|publisher=Hemmings Motor News (U.S.)| first = Jeff | last = Koch|access-date=7 September 2020}}</ref><ref name="Automobile">{{cite web|url=https://www.automobilemag.com/news/1976-1977-toyota-celica-gt-liftback/|title=Collectible Classic: 1976-1977 Toyota Celica GT Liftback|date=3 December 2010|publisher=Automobile Magazine (U.S.)| first = Jim | last = Fets|access-date=7 September 2020}}</ref>]]

The marketing term '''liftback''' describes a [[hatchback]] car body style with a rear cargo door, where the overall roof line and rear cargo door are sloped more like that of [[Sedan (automobile)|sedans]] or [[coupe]] &mdash; as compared to the more vertical rear cargo door of a more utilitarian hatchback or wagon. A liftback may include fold-down rear seats for increased cargo capacity, providing increased cargo flexibility vs. a conventional sedan or coupe.<ref name="Vehicle Dynamics">{{cite book |first=Reza N. |last=Jaza |title=Vehicle dynamics: theory and applications |publisher=Springer-Verlag |year=2008 |pages=30–31|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Pvsv78xj7UIC&q=%22station+wagon%22+vs.+%22hatchback%22&pg=PA31 |isbn=978-0-387-74243-4 |access-date=3 March 2014|quote=A hatchback car is called a liftback when the opening area is very sloped and is lifted up to open.}}</ref>
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== History ==
{{Multiple image
| width             = 220
| direction         = vertical
| image1            = Toyota Celica Coupé GT.jpg
| image2            = 1987-1989 Toyota Celica (ST162) SX liftback 02.jpg
| footer            = Comparison between the notchback Coupé (above) and Liftback (below) of the 4th generation Toyota Celica.
}}

In 1973, Toyota used the marketing term, ''liftback'', to describe the sloping roofline variation of the [[Toyota Celica|Celica]] with a cargo door hinged at the roof, as opposed to the regular [[hardtop]] coupe variation which the company introduced three years earlier.<ref name="Petrolicious"/><ref name="Hemmings"/><ref name="Automobile"/> As its roofline slope is uninterrupted, it can also be defined as a [[fastback]]-styled hatchback.

From the first to the sixth generations Celica, Toyota marketed two body styles as ''notchback Coupé'' and ''Liftback'' body styles, with the Convertible based on the notchback became available for the third until sixth generations. The high-performance turbocharged all-wheel-drive [[Toyota Celica GT-Four|GT-Four]] was only built as Liftback. Only the Liftback was offered for the last or seventh generation. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.toyota-global.com/company/history_of_toyota/75years/vehicle_lineage/car/id60010173/index.html|title=Celica Liftback|access-date=17 May 2021}}</ref>

Toyota also marketed the [[Toyota Corolla|Corolla]] Liftback from the third to eight generations. Toyota created two different liftback body shapes for the fourth generation Corolla; the first model with a sloped tailgate was named ''Coupé'', while the second model with a longer roof and slightly more vertical tailgate was named ''Liftback''. The notchback coupé model without a [[B-pillar]] was marketed as ''Hardtop'''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mag.toyota.co.uk/toyota-corolla-generations-1979-83/|title=Toyota Corolla generations: 1979-83|date=3 January 2014|access-date=20 May 2025}}</ref>
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== Liftback versus fastback ==
The term ''liftback'' describes a hatchback variant, while the term ''fastback'' broadly describes a body style that has an uninterrupted slope in the roofline from the roof rearward. Thus, while most liftbacks are fastbacks, not all fastbacks are liftbacks. Additionally, some fastbacks have a tailgate hinged below a fixed rear window, which is not characteristic of a liftback.<ref name="Flammang-Catalog">{{cite book|last=Flammang|first=James M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTM2Ixfev5QC&q=fastback|title=Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1976-1986|publisher=Krause Publications|year=1990|isbn=9780873411332|page=viii|access-date=1 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=fastback|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fastback|access-date=1 March 2016|publisher=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=fastback|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-fastback.html|access-date=1 March 2016|publisher=The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English}}</ref>


{{Multiple image
| image1            = Skoda Rapid 2021 4.jpg
| caption1          = [[Škoda Rapid (2012)|Škoda Rapid]] liftback. Note how the tailgate is hinged from the roof and the rear window is lifted along with the rest of the tailgate. It is not a fastback as it does not have an uninterrupted slope in the roofline.
| image2            = 1974 Leyland Force 7V Coupe (48296806101).jpg
| caption2          = A 1974 [[Leyland P76]]. It can be considered both a liftback (the tailgate is hinged from the roof) and a fastback (the roofline is an uninterrupted slope).
| align             = center
| width             = 250
| total_width       = 500
}}

== Europe ==
{{multiple image
| width             = 220
| direction         = vertical
| image1            = Opel Vectra C 2.2 Direkt rear.JPG
| image2            = Opel Vectra C GTS rear 20081127.jpg
| footer            = [[Opel Vectra#Vectra C (2002–2008)|Opel Vectra C]] as a 4-[[car door|door]] sedan (top) and a 5-door liftback (bottom). The length of the rear overhang is the same, and so are other dimensions of the car.
| align             = left
}}

{{multiple image
| width             = 220
| direction         = vertical
| image1            = 1994 Toyota Corolla (AE92) SE 5-door hatchback (20611635882).jpg
| image2            = 1991 Toyota Corolla Liftback 1.6 XLi.jpg
| footer            = The sixth generation Toyota Corolla 5-door models were built as hatchback (above) and liftback (below).
| align             = right
}}

Liftbacks were the mainstay of manufacturers' [[D-segment]] offerings in Europe in the 1990s to late 2000s, having become popular in the 1980s. {{cn|date=September 2020}} It was common for manufacturers to offer the same D-segment model in three different body styles: a 4-door sedan, a 5-door liftback, and a 5-door station wagon. Such models included the [[Ford Mondeo]], the [[Mazda 626]] and [[Mazda6|6]], the [[Nissan Primera]], the [[Opel Vectra]] and [[Opel Insignia|Insignia]], and the [[Toyota Carina]] and [[Toyota Avensis|Avensis]]. There were also models in this market segment available only as a 5-door liftback or a 4-door sedan, and models available only as a 5-door liftback or a 5-door station wagon. Often, the liftback and the sedan shared the same wheelbase and the same overall length, and the full rear overhang length of a conventional sedan [[Trunk (car)|trunk]] was retained on the five-door liftback version of the car.

The term was sometimes used for marketing purposes, among others, by [[Toyota]], for example, to distinguish between two 5-door versions of the [[Toyota Corolla (E90)|E90 series Corolla]] sold in Europe, one of which was a conventional 5-door hatchback with a nearly vertical rear hatch while the other one was a 5-door liftback.

[[Audi]], [[BMW]] and [[Mercedes-Benz]] were not part of this trend in the 1990s, as they did not offer their [[D-segment]] or [[executive car]]s as 5-door liftbacks back then. However as some other manufacturers started to retire D-segment liftbacks from their European lineup, starting around 2009 Audi and BMW started to sell liftback versions of some of their vehicles but with their own marketing terms, referring to them as ''Sportback'' (Audi) or ''Gran Turismo'' (BMW). For instance the [[Audi A4]] and [[Audi A6]] sedans had liftback variants known as the [[Audi A5]] Sportback and [[Audi A7]] Sportback, respectively. The Audi A7 Sportback would give rise to the Audi A7L which was an extended-wheelbase sedan of the former. However BMW's liftback variants of the [[BMW 5 Series (F10)]] and [[BMW 5 Series (G30)]], sold as the [[BMW_5_Series_(F10)#Gran_Turismo_(F07)|BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo (F07)]] and as the [[BMW 6 Series (G32)]], were not successful.

The [[Škoda Superb#B6|second-generation Škoda Superb]], produced from 2008 until 2015, is a car that functions both as a hatchback and a sedan. It features a ''Twindoor'' trunk lid that can be opened using hinges located below the rear glass, or together with the rear glass using hinges at the roof.<ref>{{Cite web|title=YouTube video| website=[[YouTube]] | date=11 July 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Ek25kwTqY}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Car classification]]
* [[Fastback]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Automobile configuration}}

[[Category:Hatchbacks| ]]
[[Category:Car body styles]]
[[Category:Car classifications]]