An upright-pillar for a vehicle body structure which, in the cross-sectional view, has the shape of a box-shaped hollow profile, is made of light metal and is placed on a side member disposed underneath. The pillar has an extruded profile and a closing part connected with it, which provides a pillar for a body structure which, with low-cost manufacturing, is easy to adapt to the shape of the door joint and can easily be connected to the adjacent body parts.

A side sill longitudinally extending at each of laterally opposite sides of a lower portion of a vehicle body is provided with a substantially uniform box-like cross-section which is defined by a top and a bottom wall and a right and a left side wall. The side sill is implemented with a hollow molding of aluminum, plastics or like lightweight material which is produced by extrusion molding. To provide the side sill with sufficient rigidity, the top and bottom walls are each provided with a sufficiently greater thickness than the side walls.

The invention concerns a passenger car with longitudinally adjustable front seats which slide back and forth along inner and outer seat rails made of steel and with side door sills made of light-alloy extruded sections to which front and rear mounting brackets for the outer seat rails are welded. In order to obtain an additional, interlocking joint, the mounting brackets are designed with an upwardly extended lip which is receivingly engaged within a downwardly facing groove provided in a hook-like extension of the door sill extrusion.

A vehicle frame assembly comprises a hydroformed vertical member (e.g., b-pillar), a hydroformed longitudinal member (e.g., roof rail), and a cross member with a transition flange wrapping above or below the longitudinal member. The transition flange provides rounded corners to enhance the door seal feature. In the preferred embodiment, the transition flange may be integrally formed as part of a stamped cross member or may be a separately formed transition bracket member attached to the cross member.

A side body structure of a vehicle includes a side sill and a roof side rail, both of which extend in a lengthwise direction of a vehicle body, and front and center pillars which extend between and connect the side sill and the roof side rail so as to define a generally rectangular front door opening in the side body. The side body structure is reinforced by a sill reinforcement extending in the lengthwise direction of the vehicle, inside of the side sill, and pillar reinforcements extending between the side sill and the roof side rail, inside the front pillar and the center pillar, respectively. The sill reinforcement is secured, at its front end, to the front pillar reinforcement and, at its rear end, to the center pillar reinforcement.