Then there’s the Wagonette, a four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle that could accommodate up to more than six passengers positioned on the rear seats facing each other. Think: a royal limousine (minus multiple rock star glam) or the Philippine jeepney (sans flags, horses, and paintings). To get inside the Wagonette, you had to go through the door at the rear area, then use the step iron.

So if you were fond of bringing home tons of shopping bags, the Wagonette had to be the one for you.

And there’s the Landaulet or Landaulette, which came all the way from Landau town in Germany. Its major feature was a folding top only at the rear area to provide a cover for the passengers. Ooppps, poor coachman! Imagine driving the vehicle on a scorching summer day. But that’s why the Laundaulet wasn’t so popular among the masses during its time. It just catered to the filthy rich or the powers that be.

Fast forward>>> The Landaulet has become the term for a car that has a convertible top for the passenger seat and a roofed or unroofed chauffeur’s area. It remains the ride-to-be for celebrities and dignitaries, the likes of Vatican religious leaders.

And if you had, by some Divine intersection, gotten hold of Maybach’s Landaulet concept car that was launched in 2007, well, congratulations, oh blessed one! May I have the honor to drive you around? =P

The more interesting thing is, the terms we use to describe car body styles, in fact, originated from coach-building vocabulary. (Warner, d’ya know that? See, my interest in arts and history is getting useful here. =D)

So you have the sporty, chic Cabriolet unleashing your passion for a good drive as you race against the wind in wild abandon. Cabriolet what? That’s just your convertible, buddy.

In the olden times, Cabriolet meant a two-wheeled horse coach with a folding hood. It could seat two people, the driver and a passenger. A spot for a groom was sometimes placed in the rear area of the vehicle. This French carriage, made in the nineteenth century, inspired the development of the hansom cab and your friendly taxi cab.

Now, Cabriolet means a car with a foldable or retractable roof made of textile. So you can enjoy the ride either way you want it—basking in the sun and the fresh air or feeling completely protected from harmful UV rays, settling for the cool AC breeze.