Patent ID: 8678481

Claim:
A vehicle body side portion structure comprising: right and left side sills extending longitudinally of a vehicle and forming right and left ends of a floor of a passenger compartment of the vehicle; pillar lower ends of right and left front pillars each extending upward from a front portion of the respective side sill; and pillar lower ends of right and left center pillars each extending upward from a center portion of the respective side sill, each of the side sills includes a side-sill inner member disposed on a side of the passenger compartment and a side-sill outer member disposed in opposed relation to the side-sill inner member so as to form the side sill into a profile of closed cross section, the side-sill outer member includes an upper wall disposed at an upper portion thereof, a vertical wall continuing from the upper wall, a lower wall continuing from the vertical wall and located at a lower level in opposed relation to the upper wall, and an opening oriented toward the passenger compartment, such that the side-sill outer member has a profile of U- or hat-shaped cross section, at least one of the pillar lower parts of the center and front pillars has an arcuate part spaced radially outwardly from a corner part where the upper wall and the vertical wall meet, and an overlap-connection part continuing from the arcuate part and laid on and connected to the vertical wall, and the overlap-connection part has a contact part, located below and continuing from the arcuate part, for contacting the vertical wall; wherein the overlap-connection part includes a bead part provided on a vehicle-forward side or a vehicle-rearward side of the contact part so as to be continuous from a top of the arcuate part and spaced from the vertical wall.