Today’s cars fit a fairly small number of body types—sedan, coupe, station wagon, SUV, hatchback, and a few others. The meanings of even these familiar terms have changed over the decades as automotive design has evolved. Along the way a much greater number of earlier body types have fallen out of use and become historical curiosities. Who today can identify a charabanc, a dos-à-dos, or even a phaeton?
This heavily illustrated dictionary defines all distinct body types ever applied to automobiles anywhere, from the early days when many were closely derived from established types of horse-drawn vehicles ("cars" in their original sense). It explains subtype designations and distinctions between similar types, comments on when and where individual body types were popular, traces how terms have taken on different meanings in different countries or time periods, and clarifies the use or misuse of various terms and designations.
