Old Car
Dictionary
Selected Body Style Nomenclature
and Ancillary Terms
All-Weather
A term used
exclusively for limousine style, formal, chauffeur-driven automobiles, with an
open chauffeur's compartment with removable hard or soft-top, and division window. The
passenger compartment may have either a
permanent top or a top that is part permanent and part removable, as in a
cabriolet or landaulet. Also, in addition to
the primary rear seat, occasional seats (jump seats, or auxiliary seats)
were usually available in some configuration,
built-in to the area at or under the division window. The term is also interchangeable with Town Car (in the Classic repertoire).
All-Weather Cabriolet See Cabriolet
All-Weather Landaulet See Landaulet
Boot
1. A compartment either at the
front or back of a vehicle, for carrying
baggage or parcels.
2. The space into which a convertible top is folded.
3. A removable leather or rubber apron or cover to provide weather protection for the chauffeur in an all-weather
town car, etc.
Boot cover
A leather or cloth
cover that snaps into place over, to conceal, a convertible top that has been lowered into the boot.
Brougham (bro am or brom), ii. (Named after the first Lord Brougham, 1778-1868.)
1. A four-wheeled
closed carriage for either two or four persons, having a curved opening underneath the driver's open seat in front enabling the wheels to turn within a narrow
space.
2. An electrically powered
automobile, between a coupe and a sedan
in size.
3. A gasoline-powered
limousine with the driver's seat
unenclosed.
EN: Packard used the
term from about 1911 (Model UE) through about 1920 (Model 335), in 1931 (the 904-4006 only) and not again until 1941 and 1942 for the semi-custom
LeBaron Sport Brougham, which was a modified body
style 1442 (5-passenger sedan) on the One Eighty chassis. In this case,
brougham was just a neat sounding name and had nothing to do with the
body style. (Pronounced broom, as in sweep).
Cabriolet cab ri o let (-la), ii. (French, dimunitive of cabriole, a leap, caper; Italian
Llapriole, from Latin caper, a hegoat).
1. A two-wheeled, one-horse
carriage, usually with a hood that
folds.
2. An automobile somewhat like a
coupe, with a folding top.
Editor's note: Refers
to an all-weather limousine body style
with a division window and, usually, closed rear quarters. The chauffeur's compartment has a removable top. The passenger compartment has a permanent top.
As with the Landaulet style, all
Cabriolet styles are either individual custom or semi-custom.
Chassis (or shas I, or chas I), ii.; plural chas sis, (French, from chasse, a frame).
1. A frame on which the carriage
of a gun moves back and forth.
2. The underframework of a motor
vehicle,
including the wheels and engine parts.
3. The frame supporting the
body of an airplane.
EN: In the plural form the last
"s" is pronounced, as in sis.
Chauffeur sho fer, ii. (French,
chauffeur, stoker from chauffer, to heat, get up steam).
1. A person whose work is to drive
an automobile for
someone else, a driver. Verb transitive
2. To act as chauffeur to;
drive a person in an automobile.
Close-Coupled
A sedan on a
short wheelbase (as opposed to standard). It can be two or four doors.
Closed Car
Closed cars are all
cars with windows in the doors that roll
up. Closed cars can have permanent tops or they may have a folding top, such as
a convertible.
Club
A
standard wheelbase sedan with closed rear quarters. A sort of informal formal sedan.
Convertible
This term seems to
have come into use in the early or mid-1930s to describe an enclosed, or closed, car with a folding top. More
widespread was the term used, and more definitively, in the post WWII years, to describe a two or
four-door car with a soft, or folding, top.
All convertibles are closed cars.
Convertible Coupe
A 2- to
4-passenger convertible with 2-passenger enclosed
seating and 2-passenger (open) rumble seat.
Convertible
These styles were introduced in the 1920s
and were popular through 1942. Convertible
sedans can be transformed in several
ways. They all have four doors and most have a limousine style division
window. The folding top is arranged so that it can be pulled back from over the front compartment to create an all-weather
town car. Or, it can be folded all
the way back to create a convertible.
Some are made so that the rearmost section of the top can be folded forward or fold the front and rear sections to create an all-weather landaulet.
These can be standard factory
offerings, individual custom or semi-custom styles, on junior and senior
chassis.
Convertible
A
four-passenger convertible without rumble seat.
Coupe cou pe ko pa kop, n. (French,
past participle of cou
per, to cut.)
1. The front seats of a continental
diligence*; also, in European railway cars, a half-compartment at the end, with seats on only one side.
2. A four-wheeled closed carriage
carrying two passengers inside, with a seat
for the driver on the outside.
3. A coupe: now, the less common form of the word.
4. A closed, two-door automobile
that seats two to six people.
Custom, Individual
Widely used in the automobile industry prior to WWII, the word originally meant a car that was designed and produced for an individual customer
or for a limited number of those
customers who desired something unique
and were willing to pay the higher cost
for the privilege. Custom cars are essentially those designed and produced 1) singly or in small
numbers, 2) by a custom body company,
3) that were not part of the standard offerings, 4) were not mass produced and 5)
employed a significant percentage of hand
craftsmanship. Examples of custom body builders would be Waterhouse, Brunn, Henney, Rollston, Dietrich, Darrin, LeBaron, Hibbard & Darrin,
Hess & Eisenhardt, Judkins, Mulliner Park Ward, Derham, Cantrell and
Hercules.
Diligence dilI gence (or French del e zhons), n.
A kind of stagecoach formerly
much used in
Formal
A short-wheelbase
version of a limousine with closed rear quarters designed for more personal
use. Also, very often they had padded
tops. They can be factory semi-custom or individual custom.
Greenhouse
That portion of
an automobile above the beltline.
Individual Custom
See Custom
Landau lan dau, n. (from Landau, German town where made).
1. A four-wheeled
covered carriage with the top in two sections, either of which can be lowered independently.
2. A former style of automobile
with a somewhat similar top.
EN: Landau, as we
know it, can refer to a body style with non-functional "Landau Irons"
on the rear roof quarter, such as a fancy hearse; or a horse-drawn carriage.
They appeared as an "S" shape, in the diagonal.
Landaulet, landaulette lan dau let, lan dau lette, n.
1. A small landau or one with only one seat.
2. Same as landau, n.
EN: This term is more
widely known in the hobby and refers to
an all-weather limousine style. They had a division window, open chauffeur's
and passenger's compartment (either full or
partial), or open passenger's compartment only. Sometimes the only open
section in the passenger's compartment was over the rear seating area. The
chauffeur's compartment usually had a sliding or soft top which snapped into
place. The passenger compartment top was
folding, like a baby carriage. Landaulets are usually individual custom. (The
terms Landau and Landaulet, when applied to automobiles, are
interchangeable.)
Limousine lim ou sine, ii. (French, literally, a hood: from the costume worn in
1. An automobile with
a closed compartment seating
three or more passengers: the top is extended forward over the driver's seat, which is open at the sides.
2. Any large,
luxurious sedan, usually with back and
front seats separated by a glass partition.
EN: A limousine (or
sedan limousine) is a formal, chauffeur-driven
automobile, with auxiliary seating to accommodate
seven to nine passengers, always with division
window and long wheelbase, with a full, permanent top and, usually, windows in the rear quarters. The front seat was usually
non-adjustable with a more vertical rake to the back portion in order to
accommodate the division window. They are,
more often than not, factory built
semi customs -- but many are
individual custom. Sometimes, they had padded tops. Limousines,
and their variations (cabriolets, etc.) usually
had some type of device for passenger and driver to communicate, such as a buzzer or microphone and speaker
arrangement, which allowed conversation without having to lower the division window.
Open Car
O pen cars are those
without windows in the doors that roll up. All open cars have folding tops. Weather protection is often by removable side
curtains.
Phaeton pha e ton, pha e ton, ii. (Fr. Phaeton, from Latin Phaethon**.)
1. A light, four
wheeled carriage, drawn by either one or two horses, with front and back seats, and, usually, a folding top.
2. An open automobile
with front and back seats
and a folding top, usually furnished with
side curtains; a touring car.
EN: All phaetons are
open cars. They were catalogued on the
senior Packard chassis through 1936. One individual
custom phaeton by Derham was built on a 1938 Packard Twelve chassis, has
been restored and is seen at car shows today.
Phaethon (f a a thon), ii. (Greek Phaethon, literally,
shiner; phaethein, to shine, root as seen
in phos, light.)
1. In Greek and
Roman mythology, the son of Helios, the sun
god; he borrowed his father's sun chariot and, through careless driving, would have set the world on fire had
not Zeus struck him down with a thunderbolt.)
Rear Quarter
Refers to that
portion of the roof (or greenhouse), just aft of the rear most doors, where it may be "closed" or have a window.
Roadster
1. An open automobile with single seat for
two or three persons: many roadsters have a rumble seat as well.
2. A horse for riding or driving
on the road. 3.
Formerly, a bicycle or tricycle for road use.
Rumble Seat
In some automobiles,
especially formerly, an extra open seat in the rear, behind the roofed seat: it can be folded shut when not in use.
(EN: The sacrifice was a trunk, although
there usually was a side-accessed compartment, or boot, for golf clubs or other
gear).
1. A type of enclosed automobile
having two or four
doors, and two seats, front and rear.
2. A sedan chair.***
Sedan Chair
An enclosed chair for one person, carried on poles
by two or more men.)
Semi-Custom
A custom made car
but one that is a modified standard offering with less hand craftsmanship, made in an automobile company's factory shops or custom body department, or by a custom body company. As opposed to individual custom.
Seven-Passenger
A limousine in every
sense without the division window.
Packard also used Eight-Passenger Sedan nomenclature
on occasion. Whereas limousines usually have leather chauffeur's
compartment and cloth-upholstered passenger's compartment, these cars were
cloth front and rear. They offered the same utility as a limousine but were mostly owner-driven. Another feature was a conventional, adjustable front seat
with the usual rake to the back
portion, space for which was permissible due to the absence
of the division window.
Sport
A term used in the early and mid thirties to denote a four-door four or five
passenger ultra luxurious sedan for around town use, as they usually are trunkless, and therefore not
intended for long distance or vacation use. Also, they seem to be strictly individual custom.
Station
Same as Station
Wagon, below. Packard used this nomenclature on the only other Detroit-based station wagons it built, the 1948 through 1950 Eight Station
Sedan. Station sedan was actually a better term for this model since the body was a modified sedan body, with wood trim and a wood tailgate, made by Packard.
Station Wagon
An
automobile with folding or removable rear seats
and a back end that opens for easy loading of luggage, etc, having a body of
wood or metal panels.
EN: Packard
introduced this body style on the Fifteenth Series (1937) Six. Available on the Six/One Ten and (junior) Eight/One Twenty through 1942 as utility vehicles
for farms, ranches, resort hotels, etc. They were built either by Cantrell or Hercules and are catalogued (full) custom cars. I believe Ford introduced them
on the Model A in 1929.
Tonneau ton neau (no), ii. (French,
literally, a cask, tun.)
1. An enclosed rear compartment
for passengers in an
early type of automobile,
a. such as a phaeton.
2. The whole body
of such an automobile.
3.
A metric ton, or 1,000 kilograms.
Touring Car
An early type of open automobile,
often with a folding top, seating five or more passengers.
EN: After sedan,
perhaps the most popular descriptive term for an automobile. Used by Packard as late as 1953 on some Clipper models.
Town Car
Always
a formal, all-weather style, as in Cabriolet or Landaulet, with division
window. Town cars are usually the longer
wheelbase, Cabriolets the shorter. Town Cars usually have windows in the rear quarters, while Cabriolets usually do not.
Victoria (Latin, victory), ii.
1. A low, four-wheeled carriage for two passengers, with a folding top and a high seat
in front for the coachman.
2. An early touring automobile
with a folding top over the rear seat.
EN: The term
Consequently, the interior space
was larger with a larger top area in the rear quarter, as opposed to the 2-4-pass. Convertible
coupe with rumble seat. The term, unlike the others here, seems to be applied arbitrarily throughout the automobile
industry to certain standard body styles, as in Ford's Crown
AAAAEN: The 1932-1934
V-windshield Packard Dietrichs were semi-customs (modified standard body types) that were designed by Ray Dietrich
but built by Packard in the custom body department at
I
My thanks to Noah Webster's New Twentieth
Century Dictionary of the English Language,
unabridged, 1969, second edition. The Word Publishing
Co.,
I
EN: The terms and
definitions used here are from the pre-WWII
lexicon. Post WWII usage, such as a town car or
touring, were just interesting terms by then and were no longer used to denote specific body styles. As
you can see, many terms are derived from the horse-drawn era. The horse-drawn lexicon, in fact, is far
more precise with more terms to
describe many more styles than were available in automobiles. The pre-c1920
automobile lexicon is a whole new subject.
Dwight Heinmuller © 2002