A landaulet or landaulette is a car body style, "an enclosed sedan or coupé with a folding top at the extreme rear quarter, over the rear seat."[1]
A Landaulet carriage is a cut-down (coupé) version of a landau carriage, "an enclosed carriage with a top that could be folded down, in essence, the first convertible."[1] The landaulet retained the rear half of the landau's two-part folding top.
Like many other coachbuilding styles, the landaulet was transferred from horse-drawn carriages to motor carriages.
A landaulet is a chauffeured vehicle. Since World War II conventional use has been restricted to formal processions by dignitaries when the dignitary's security can be assured. Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, and Pope Benedict XVI used landaulets based on Mercedes-Benz automobiles.
The Maybach division of Daimler AG showed a landaulet concept car at the Middle East International Auto Show in November 2007.[2] They have since added the landaulet to their 2009 model line.[3]
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