As the preface states, "Few things have been subject to so many confusing type names and designations as automobile models and body styles." Where did the terms station wagon, sedan, or spider originate, and how have they come to be used? This dictionary is intended for students of automotive history and other car buffs to help them sort out this confusion. Both modern terms (All wheel drive, Flattop, Hatchback) and those inherited from the horse-and-buggy era (Brougham, Cabriolet, Landau) are included. More coverage is given to innovations and developments in auto body styles in the early twentieth century.
Entries include one- or two-paragraph descriptions of the term, including the period of usage, origins and history, variations, and language varieties. American, British, French, German, and Italian varieties are given, but there is no mention of Japanese, Korean, or other designs. Trucks are excluded, but SUVs and minivans are included. Cross-references include backward and forward pointing arrows for earlier and later usages. Terms in all capital letters have their own entries. Some entries illustrate body styles with generic-looking line drawings.
There are many car books, but no other source provides definitions of body styles. Recommended for libraries with specialized automobile collections. RBB
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Book Description
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.
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