Vehicle body construction

Claim 1

A vehicle body construction having a passenger compartment, comprising a substantially closed box section cowl top mounted in front of the passenger compartment and extending in a lateral direction of said body, said cowl top having an upper panel and a lower panel having a vertical wall, closed box section front pillars extending upwardly at each side of said passenger compartment, said front pillars having an inner and outer panel, and closed box section reinforcement members each formed by a hoodridge panel and a suspension member having a horizontal wall, said reinforcement members extending in a longitudinal direction of said body on each side thereof in front of said passenger compartment, said cowl top having end portions secured to said front pillars at substantially a central part thereof in such a manner that the vertical wall of the lower panel of the closed box section of said cowl top is secured to the outer panel of said front pillar, each of said reinforcement members having its rearward end portion bent downward below said cowl top and secured thereto such that the horizontal wall of the suspension member of said reinforcement member is connected to the lower panel of said cowl top, and said each of said reinforcement members having its hoodridge panel secured to the outer panel of said front pillar and serving as the inner panel of said front pillar, whereby ends of said cowl top, reinforcement members and front pillars are connected to each other.