The first hatchback was a 1938 Citroën built for butchers and bakers
Long before the hatchback became the default small family car, Citroën built one in 1938 for tradesmen hauling bulky goods: butchers, bakers, wine merchants and grocers. The idea is simple, a rear door hinged at the roof that opens into the cabin itself, yet the dictionary did not record the word until 1970.
What sets a hatchback apart is that upward-swinging rear panel, hinged at roof level, unlike a saloon's boot lid, which is hinged below the rear window. Most use a two-box body, with passengers and cargo sharing one space, and folding rear seats let owners trade legroom for luggage. That hatch creates a naming quirk: some manufacturers count it as a door, so a car with two passenger doors becomes a three-door.
Citroën's pioneer was the Commerciale version of its Traction Avant, with a two-piece tailgate. In 1949 Kaiser-Frazer's Vagabond and Traveler hid a similar split tailgate and folding seats inside an ordinary sedan shape. Sporty makers borrowed the idea too. Aston Martin's DB2 of 1953 had a top-hinged tailgate, and in 1965 MG had Pininfarina turn the MGB roadster into the MGB GT, the first sports car built in volume with a hatch.
Variations multiplied. A liftback has a flatter, more sloping hatch that swings more up than back; Toyota coined the term in 1973 for the Celica Liftback GT, which was cramped in the back seat but handier for everyday errands. Saab called its version a combi coupé from 1974. Estates or station wagons share the two-box layout and roof-hinged tailgate but tend to be longer, with a more upright rear and suspension built for heavier loads. A few cars, such as the Simca 1100, look like three-box saloons yet open like hatchbacks.
Safety rules shape the design. American regulators classify a hatch as a back door for loading cargo, and back doors intended for passengers must meet stricter latch and hinge standards. Today the layout spans everything from superminis to executive cars, and it forms a core part of sport utility vehicles.
Source: Hatchback
