Coupe de Ville
A coupé de ville is a two-door, two-light carriage or motor car. It typically has four seats, with the rear passenger seats lacking side windows and the front seats open or coverable with a light folding roof. Rear seat passengers may travel in privacy, as windows to the rear of the car are not present or kept small. There is no division between front and rear seats as in a limousine. This body style is also called a sedanca.[1]
This style was historically intended for the personal use of women[2] riding in the back seat and chauffeured. Seeking publicity and building on his work with Studebaker, Raymond Loewy had two Lincoln Continentals[3] altered to coupés de ville in 1946 using a removable plexiglas cover over the chauffeur.
Once high-speed highways entered the cities this part-open style became obsolete and is now best remembered in the model-name Cadillac Coupe de Ville.[citation needed]
coupé de ville position
A coupé de ville is alternatively defined as a drophead coupé with a three-position top which may be fully closed, fully open, or partially closed, leaving rear passengers covered.[4]
Related styles
By contrast, a town car, coupé maître, or sedanca de ville has a division between driver and passengers, four doors, and 4-lights or two side windows on each side. The seat for the driver, and possibly a footman, are open or coverable with only a light folding roof. The open driving seat is all that distinguishes this type of car from a conventional limousine.
A targa top or surrey top is also similar to a coupe de ville. This has a removable panel over the front seats, while the back of the top is usually fixed, although in some cases it is removable or retractable. However, vehicles with targa tops usually have either no rear seat or marginal rear seats for temporary use.[citation needed]
References
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- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 1989
- ↑ Culshaw, David; Horrobin, Peter (2013) [1974]. "Appendix 5 - Coachwork styles". The complete catalogue of British Cars 1895 - 1975 (Paperback ed.). Poundbury, Dorchester, UK: Veloce Publishing. p. 483. ISBN 978-1-874105-93-0. Retrieved 2013-12-06. "Sedanca A version of the Coupe style, with the rear seat covered by a fixed roof. The front seats are open, but occasionally covered by a sliding panel. Dummy hood irons are sometimes in evidence, as are fixed (occasionally circular) side windows."
- ↑ Ezra Stratton (1878). World on Wheels. New York: Bloom. ISBN 0-405-09006-4.
- ↑ Dennis Adler (2007). Speed and Luxury: The Great Cars. St. Paul MN: Motorbooks. ISBN 978-0-7603-2960-3.
- ↑ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1966). Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged A–K. Springfield, Mass. USA: G & C Merriam. p. 521. ISBN 0-7135-1037-4.