With MINI switching to a new body style for the coupes, but keeping the old body style for the convertibles, it got me wondering if any other car maker has done this with one of their models?

I can't think of any other examples where the "old" body style wasn't discontinued when the "new" one came out.

 

Different production line.

 

this is done all the time

the bmw 3-series, for example

 

Welp, off the top of my head it seems akin to how BMW has had a newer sedan sold alongside the older bodystyle coupe on the regular 3ers - much less how long they kept the E46 M3 going long after the rest of the 3 series changed over.

I'm not as familiar with other manufacturers so another example didn't pop inot my head (yet)

edit: ya beat me by seconds roaduscarnivorous :D

 

Volkswagen did it that way for a while with the switch from the Rabbit to Golf body styles back in the '80s.

Zip

 

I don't know much about Volkswagen. Did they simultaneously attach the same model name to two different body styles in the same year?

 

I'm not sure now, but I think the car just said 'cabrio' on it. But it was definitely the squared-off, 1st gen Rabbit body.

Zip

 

Yes..A good example is the 3 series change in 1999, but continued to sell the old style 3 convert until 2000...

 

Yup. The Rabbit Convertible/Cabriolet were made in a different production facility than the hunchbacks. They just changed the name from Rabbit Convertible to Cabriolet in '85 and kept the same old body for several years after.

 

Yah
it still saddens me they dropped the cabrio

 

It is not unusual in manufacturing .

One issue that may sway a company to do so for example is inventory on hand. If one model is still heavily in stock while the other model is pretty much sold out, a company may decide to "continue" the bodystyle of the one they have in stock.



Herbert

 

It was manufactured by Karmann for VW. Had one.

 

Chrysler did this with the coupe/sedan versions of the Sebring as well as the 2dr vs. 4dr versions of the Stratus for example, where one car was an entirely different platform than the other of the same name, and redesigns were not always done in the same year. Lately it has become fashionable for fullsize trucks to have a different platform for their half-tons versus the heavy duty 3/4- and one-ton trucks. Where originally the basic body style was the same over the whole line, now the light duty ones can be almost unique compared to the HD offerings. Ford started the trend with the F-150.

 

Chevy came out with a new Malibu a couple years ago and continued to sell the old body style as the "Classic". It was only sold to fleets I do believe.

 

BMW is a relatively small car manufacturer, and their design and production resources are rather limited compared to the big 3. So when the introduce a new model (3 series and MINI being the prime examples) they get the sedan out to market and then focus design efforts on coupes and cabrio's. With the 3 series, the coupes and drop-tops share alot of common body parts that are inherently different on their 4-door siblings. Their really isn't any mystery to it.
--Dan

 

Lots of manufacturers have done it. Jeep did it back in the 90s with the Cherokee and now Chevy is doing it with the Silverado Classic edition.