Fastback

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For the DC Comics superhero, see Fastback (comics).

Image:67marlinFastback.jpg Image:Citroen CX rear.jpg Image:Mercedes CLS C219.jpg Image:Saab900cc.jpg

A fastback is a car body style characterised by a continuous slope from the roof to the base of the decklid. Fastbacks can be two-door coupés or two- or four-door sedans. Unlike the hatchback, a fastback car has a fixed rear window and a trunk that is separated by a bulkhead from the passenger cabin.

Fastbacks are often designed for dramatic impact, but the form is also an advantage in developing aerodynamic vehicles with a low drag coefficient. The Kamm tail is a related concept.

Possibly because of the aerodynamic advantages, the angle of the rear window on traditional three-box sedans has been steadily increasing, blurring the distinction between fastbacks and notchback cars. The current Audi A6 is an example of this trend.

1 Confusion with hatchback and liftback cars
2 Examples of two-door fastback cars
3 Examples of four-door fastback cars
4 See also

[edit] Confusion with hatchback and liftback cars

In profile, hatchbacks and fastbacks can occasionally be confused, since both are two-box designs. A hatchback that looks like a fastback, but has a rear window integral to the hatch and a luggage compartment integral to the cabin, is properly termed a liftback. All liftbacks are hatchbacks with a fastback's profile, but a true fastback is neither a liftback nor a hatchback.

Like hatchbacks, some fastbacks have a trunk area that is not discrete or separate from the cabin, while others are just like notchback sedan/coupé layouts but with a very steep rake for the rear window. The Fiat 127 presents a challenge to these distinctions, as one model had a prototypical hatchback outline (e.g., the Volkswagen Golf), but a separate trunk. Technically, it is not a fastback, but can be considered with them for sake of convenience.