Cabriolet

Cabriolet (pronounced kab-ree-uh-ley)

(1) A light, two-wheeled, one-horse carriage with a folding top, capable of seating two persons.

(2) An automobile based usually on a two-door coupé but with a folding top.

(3) The equivalent continental term for the (mostly UK) drophead coupé (DHC) or the more generic convertible.

1766: from the French cabriolet, from the Italian cabriole & cabriole (horse caper) +‎ -et.  Cabriole & cabriole were from the Latin capreolus (wild goat), from the primitive Indo-European kápros (buck, he-goat) and related to the Old Norse hafr (he-goat), the Old English hæfr, the Welsh gafr and the Old Irish gabor.  The seemingly strange relationship between the Latin capreolus (roebuck; wild goat) and the eighteenth century horse-drawn carriage is explained by the French cabriole (little caper) a meaning derived from its light movement, from cabrioler (to leap, caper), from the Italian capriolare (to somersault), from the Latin capreolus (roebuck; wild goat), the idea being of something light and agile in movement.  The larger, more upscale version of the lightweight carriages the French named cabriolet, “cab” being the common form in the vernacular.  The –et suffix, indicating diminution or affection, was borrowed from Old French -et, and its feminine variant -ette, both derived from the Late Latin -ittus (and the other gender forms -itta, -ittum).  In English use, the word evolved as "cab" and later "taxicab".  Cabriolet is a noun, the noun plural is cabriolets.

The application of cabriolet to describe convertible cars emerged in the early years of the continental motor industry because of the conceptual similarity to the earlier, light horse-drawn two-seater carriages but as the years went by, although there was never all that much exactitude in the nomenclature, the terms to describe the variations in convertible coachwork became merely model names (except for the much later targa which Porsche had the foresight to register as a trademark) and if a car was called a roadster, drophead coupé, phaeton, cabriolet or landau, it was an indication only that the roof could (usually) be removed or folded back.  One exception to that was Daimler-Benz which tightly defined the specifications of roadsters and landaulets and, with Teutonic thoroughness, in the mid-twentieth century codified the five variations of Mercedes-Benz cabriolets as Cabriolet A, B, C, D & F (if ever there was a Cabriolet E, the factory’s definition has never surfaced.

The classification of cabriolets by Daimler-Benz

Cabriolet A coachwork: 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K (left), 1958 Mercedes-Benz 300 SC (centre) & 2017 Mercedes Maybach 6 (right).

A cabriolet with two doors and room for two passengers.  Occasionally, the cabriolet As would be built with provision for one additional passenger, seated sideways behind the front seats, an arrangement the factory would use as late as 1968 (in the W113 roadsters) until outlawed by US safety regulators.  With Mercedes-Benz, the tradition of the cabriolet A in the big, open two-seat convertible would survive only until the 300 S & 300 SC (W188, 1951-1958) although in 2017, the Mercedes-Maybach 6 Cabriolet was displayed, probably the most extravagantly self-indulgent two-seater seen since the pre-war years.  That was mitigated somewhat by the electric powertrain but production was never considered.

Cabriolet B coachwork: 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 (left), 1992 Mercedes-Benz 300 CE (centre) & 2018 Mercedes-AMG S 650 (right).  

A cabriolet with two doors and room for four or five passengers, fitted with a rear-quarter window for the rear seat.  Other than when interrupted by World War II (1939-1945) and its aftermath, the cabriolet B was long a staple of the Mercedes-Benz lineup but between 1972-1992 there was a hiatus, fears that impending US legislation would outlaw convertible sales in that lucrative market meaning no two door variations were constructed on the new S-Class (W116, 1972-1981) platform and no convertible version of the mid-range (W123, 1976-1984) cars was ever offered.  In those years, the R107 (1971-1989) roadster was the sole convertible available, it's sales outside the US sufficient to maintain profitability if the ban eventuated.  As things turned out,  Ronald Reagan (1911-2004, US president 1981-1989) thought a ban dopey so the idea was dropped and the cabriolet B returned in the form of the mid-range A124 (1991-1997).  Models in that segment have remained available since although the brief return of a big Cabriolet B (the A217 S-Class, 2015-2020) seems an experiment unlikely soon to be repeated.

Cabriolet C coachwork: 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K (left), 1950 Jaguar Mark V Drophead Coupé (DHC) (centre) & 2020 Alvis TB60 DHC (continuation) (right).

A cabriolet with two doors and room for four or five passengers with no rear quarter window.  Remarkably, the wedding car used by Hermann Göring (1893–1946; leading Nazi 1922-1945 and Reichsmarschall 1940-1945) for his (second) marriage to Emmy Sonnemann (1893-1973) was a 500 K Cabriolet C and the photographs of the happy day do show things were a little cramped once Göring's corpulent form was in place but his slim bride looked content.  Most German manufacturers and virtually all coachbuilders kept the cabriolet C on the books throughout the interwar period but in the post-war years, it was actually the British which did most to maintain the tradition, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Daimler, Armstrong Siddeley and Alvis all offering the style and Alvis in 2018 actually re-commenced production of what they called their "continuation" series.  While it can lend elegance, one obvious drawback of the design is visibility, the bulk of the fabric creating blind-spots rearward.

Cabriolet D coachwork: 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300d (left), 1967 Lincoln Continental (centre) & 2006 Mercedes-Benz Concept Ocean Drive (right). 

A cabriolet with four doors and room for four to six passengers.  Common in the 1930s, the four door convertible was rare by the mid 1950s and even Mercedes-Benz removed the 300c (W186, 1951-1957) Cabriolet D from the range when the 300d (W189, 1957-1962) was released in 1958.  However, although demand for such a machine was tiny, it wasn't non-existent and in 1959 it was announced the Cabriolet D would again be available to special order, the price on application (POA) and depending on specification; eventually, a further 65 were made.  That was the last of the line however and when "semi-convertible" coachwork was introduced for the 600 (W100, 1963-1981), the term "landaulet" was preferred and apart from the mouth-watering Concept Ocean Drive presented in 2006, the factory has never hinted such things might return.  Apart from truck-like off-road machines, nor has any other manufacturer since the last convertible Lincoln Continental was made in 1967.  Remembered also for its connection to the limousine in which President John Kennedy (JFK, 1917–1963; US president 1961-1963) was assassinated, the connection didn't dissuade his successor (Lyndon Johnson (LBJ, 1908–1973; US president 1969-1969) from owning one but even a the presidential imprimatur didn't stimulate sales sufficiently and the four-door convertibles didn't appear after 1968.  They were the last convertibles of any description, ever built by Lincoln.

Cabriolet F Coachwork: 1930 Mercedes-Benz 770K (W07) (left), 1961 Lincoln Continental (X-100 by Hess & Eisenhardt) (centre) & 1966 Mercedes-Benz 600 Landaulet in four-door, short roof configuration (right, which is not really a cabriolet F). 

A cabriolet with four doors, built on an extended wheelbase, usually for state or formal use with room for six or more passengers.  The rare cabriolet Fs were almost exclusively state or parade vehicles (although as used cars, they've been sometimes imaginatively re-purposed in the secondary market) and are now effectively extinct, driven from the market by security concerns and the lack of appropriate new vehicles upon which they could be based.  Politicians now feel much safer in armored cars, built on usually on a truck chassis.

Lindsay Lohan alighting from Porsche 911 Carrera (997) cabriolet, Los Angeles, 2012.

Being a German company, Porsche from its early years used "cabriolet" to describe its soft-top models although the Americans never really embraced the idea, habitually calling the open 356s "convertibles".  Strangely, Volkswagen owners in the US took to the term, cabriolet usually preferred for the Karmann-built soft-top beetles.  After their targa (a word they trade-marked) models were introduced, Porsche anyway had a reason to avoid "convertible" as imprecise.   In 1981 they had shown a cabriolet concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show and the 911 Cabriolet was released late the next year, their first full convertible since the last of the 356s in 1965 so to clarify things, Porsche insisted there were no convertibles in the range, just coupés, targas and cabriolets.

Pope Saint John Paul II (1920–2005; pope 1978-2005) in  Ferrari Mondial cabriolet while on a visit to the Ferrari test track, Fiorano, Italy, 4 June 1988.  This is believed to be the fastest ever Popemobile.

The term "cabriolet" has over the decades been applied to convertible Ferraris but a convention seems to have emerged that it's now used exclusively for the four seaters (which the factory admits are really 2+2s).  The factory has had 2+2 cabriolets in the lineup for a while, most recently the California (2008-2017) and the Portofino (since 2018) but those used a conventional front-engine layout.  The Mondial (1980-1993) was mid-engined, making the accommodation of four within the cabin quite challenging and critics noted one of the compromises imposed was aesthetic, the body lacking Ferrari's usually lovely, lithe lines, something said also of its 2+2 predecessor, the fixed-roof 208 & 308 GT4 (sold as both a Dino and a Ferrari).  However, the practicality of the Mondial much appealed to the market and it was at the time one of the the most successful Ferraris ever made and much thought had been put into the design, not only to ensure the one basic specification could be sold in all markets but also that the cost of ownership would be lower.  It was much improved as the years went by and made in four distinct generations but Ferrari have not since attempted another mid-engined 2+2.

1966 Mercedes-Benz 300 SE Cabriolet.

In the collector-car market, the Mercedes-Benz W111 (1961-1971) & W112 (1962-1967) remain coveted and, as is usually the case, it's the convertibles which are most sought after, even though the cabriolet lacks the coupé's lovely roofline.  Pedants note that although the two-door W111s & W112s are technically a Coupé B & Cabriolet B in the factory's naming system, they're never referred to as such because no other configuration was offered in the model.  The W112 (300 SE) is of interest too because of the chrome moldings around the wheel arches, a feature which had been seen on some earlier cars and would be shared by the 600 Grosser (W100, 1963-1981).  Criticized by some when they appeared on the 600, the additional chrome on the W112 wasn't to everyone's taste (and it was a "delete option" when new) but it clearly had an enduring appeal because for decades after-market suppliers found a read market among those with later model Mercedes-Benz, BMWs, Jaguars and some others.  This is not approved of by the purists and whether in chrome, stainless steel or anodised plastic (!) it makes not difference: the originality police insist if it wasn't done by the factory, it shouldn't be done.

1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet (a converted coupé).

This is one really to upset the originality police because (1) it started life as a coupé, (2) the chrome wheel-arch moldings were never available on this model and (3) the Fuchs (Bundt) aluminium wheels have been chromed (and may anyway be reproductions).  Such is the price premium the cabriolets command compared with the coupés, over the years, many have been tempted to cut but exactly to replicate what the factory did is harder than at first glance it seems.

Mercedes-Benz 770K (W150; 1939-1943), Cabriolet D (top) and Cabriolet F (bottom).

With a variety of coachwork, all the second generation of the Grosser Mercedes-Benz were built on a chassis with a wheelbase of 3880 mm (152¾ inch).  In some four years, only 88 were built, most of which were allocated to senior figures in the Nazi Party, the Wehrmach (the armed forces) and the German state although a handful were gifted to foreign heads of state.  The 770K will forever be associated with Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) because until the outbreak of war the big Cabriolet F was his preferred parade car and one of the quirks in the factory's nomenclature is that while the body-styles Cabriolet A, B, C & D were defined and well-documented, there was a 770K Cabriolet F, but no Cabriolet E.  The Cabriolet F was among the rarest of the 770Ks with only five made and featured the additional rear window in the passenger compartment.  The jump in the factory's designations from "D" to "F" obviously skipped "E" and because that didn't seem the typically precise German way of doing things, there was speculation that another type of open coachwork had been planned (though not necessarily on the 770K chassis) but which was never built because of the outbreak of war in 1939.  That's not impossible (some records were lost during the war) but the archives for the period have revealed nothing which supports the theory and the consensus is the "Cabriolet F" label was an allusion to "Führer", the car's most infamous customer.  The factory has never commented on the speculation; despite having a great sense of history and claiming to have produced the world's first automobile in 1886, unsurprisingly, Mercedes-Benz doesn't much dwell on the company’s relationship with the state and party between 1933-1945.

Taxi

Taxi (pronounced tak-see)

(1) A shortening of taxicab (itself a truncation of taximeter cab), traditionally a light vehicle usually fitted with a taximeter, available for hire (with its driver) to carry passengers to a specified destination; a taxi-truck extends the same concept to freight.

(2) To ride or travel in a taxicab

(3) In aviation, to cause (an aircraft) to move along the ground under its own power, especially before take-off and after landing, or to cause an aircraft to move along the ground in this way.

(4) In military slang, the act of transporting troops or the helicopter or plane used for the transport.

1907: A shortened form of taximeter cab, taximeter (automatic meter that records distance and fare) from the French taximètre, from the German Taxameter, from Taxanom, the construct a coinage based on Taxe (tax, charge or scale of charges), from the Medieval Latin taxa (tax, charge) + meter.  Ultimately however, taxi may be traced back to the Ancient Greek τάξις (taxis) from τάσσω (to place in a certain order (in the sense of “commanding an orderly battle line” or “ordaining the payment of taxes”) to the extent that ταξίδι (taxidi) ("journey" in Modern Greek) originally denoted an orderly military march or campaign (an "operation whereby displaced parts are put back in their natural situation”) noted in 1758 in the Medical Latin , a verbal noun of tassein (arrange), from the primitive Indo-European root tag- (to touch, handle).  Meter (also metre) in this sense was from the Old English meter (versification), from the Latin mētrum, from the Ancient Greek μέτρον (metron) (meter, a verse; that by which anything is measured; measure, length, size, limit, proportion) from the primitive Indo-European root me- (to measure).  It seems the word was in the early fourteenth century re-borrowed after a three-century gap in recorded use, from Old French metre, with the specific sense of "metrical scheme in verse" from the Latin mētrum and it has since been part of a structural language of poetry as well as the general sense related to “measure”.  The taximeter, originally a mechanical (clockwork) device, was later electro-mechanical and finally electronic, was the means by which the distance travelled was recorded and the fare calculated.

Stuffed: A tiger, reputedly a thirty-year old male which died from natural causes while in captivity.

In use since 1820, taxidermy (the stuffing of animal carcases for purposes of display) combines taxi in classical sense of "arrangement, an arranging with derma (skin, from the primitive Indo-European der-(to split, flay, peel), the idea again being an "operation whereby displaced parts are put back in their natural situation”;  Reflecting the popularity of big-game hunting and the volume of dead animals increasingly available to display as trophies, the profession of taxidermist was first noted in 1827.  Taxonomy (the nomenclature of the science of classification in zoology, botany etc), dates from 1819, from the (1813) French taxonomie and was an (irregular) formation from the Ancient Greek taxis (ie the sense of “arrangement") +  -nomia (method), the related forms being taxonomic & taxonomist.

Dating from 1766, cabriolet (light two-wheeled chaise, a type of horse-drawn carriage), was from the French cabriolet, from the Italian cabriole & cabriole (horse caper) +‎ -et.  Cabriole & cabriole were from the Latin capreolus (wild goat), from the primitive Indo-European kápros (buck, he-goat) and related to the Old Norse hafr (he-goat), the Old English hæfr, the Welsh gafr and the Old Irish gabor.  The seemingly strange relationship between the Latin capreolus (roebuck; wild goat) and the eighteenth century horse-drawn carriage is explained by the French cabriole (little caper) a meaning derived from its light movement, from cabrioler (to leap, caper), from the Italian capriolare (to somersault), from the Latin capreolus (roebuck; wild goat), the idea being of something light and agile in movement.  The larger, more upscale version of the lightweight carriages the French named cabriolet, “cab” being the common form in the vernacular.  The –et suffix, indicating diminution or affection, was borrowed from Old French -et, and its feminine variant -ette, both derived from the Late Latin -ittus (and the other gender forms -itta, -ittum).

1966 Mercedes-Benz 300 SE Cabriolet.

In the collector-car market, the Mercedes-Benz W111 (1961-1971) & W112 (1962-1967) remain coveted and, as is usually the case, it's the convertibles which are most sought after, even though the cabriolet lacks the coupé's lovely roofline.  Pedants note that although the two-door W111s & W112s are technically a Coupé B & Cabriolet B in the factory's naming system, they're never referred to as such because no other configuration was offered in the model.  The W112 (300 SE) is of interest too because of the chrome moldings around the wheel arches, a feature which had been seen on some earlier cars and would be shared by the 600 Grosser (W100, 1963-1981).  Criticized by some when they appeared on the 600, the additional chrome on the W112 wasn't to everyone's taste (and it was a "delete option" when new) but it clearly had an enduring appeal because for decades after-market suppliers found a read market among those with later model Mercedes-Benz, BMWs, Jaguars and some others.  This is not approved of by the purists and whether in chrome, stainless steel or anodised plastic (!) it makes not difference: the originality police insist if it wasn't done by the factory, it shouldn't be done.

1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet (a converted coupé).

This is one really to upset the originality police because (1) it started life as a coupé, (2) the chrome wheel-arch moldings were never available on this model and (3) the (Fuchs Bundts) aluminium wheels have been chromed (and may anyway be reproductions).  Such is the price premium the cabriolets command compared with the coupés, over the years, many have been tempted to cut but exactly to replicate what the factory did is harder than it sounds.   

The application of cabriolet to describe convertible cars emerged in the early years of the continental motor industry because of the conceptual similarity to the earlier, light horse-drawn two-seater carriages but as the years went by, although there was never all that much exactitude in the nomenclature, the terms to describe the variations in convertible coachwork became merely model names (except for the much later targa which Porsche had the foresight to register as a trademark) and if a car was called a roadster, drophead coupé, phaeton, cabriolet or landau, it was an indication only that the roof could (usually) be removed or folded back.  One exception to that was Daimler-Benz which tightly defined the specifications of roadsters and landaulets and, with Teutonic thoroughness, in the mid-twentieth century codified the five variations of Mercedes-Benz cabriolets as Cabriolet A, B, C, D & F (if ever there was a Cabriolet E, the factory’s definition has never surfaced.

The taxicabs of Paris were first equipped with meters in 1898; originally called taxibread, they were renamed taximètres in 1904 and the first six-hundred petrol (gas) powered New York taxicabs were imported from France (then the world’s largest producer of automobiles) in 1907, the name “taxicab” borrowed from London where it had been in used for some time.  Fake news soon emerged, reports circulating in the New York press that the handy new vehicles were named after Franz II von Taxis of the house of Thurn and Taxis (1514-1543; postmaster for Philip of Burgundy) and his nephew Johann Baptiste von Taxis (1470-1541; Postmaster-General of the Holy Roman Empire).  Both were innovative in instituting in Europe (for the first time since the Roman Empire) fast and reliable postal services and on some routes passengers were also able to purchase seats so while the Taxis’ did provide taxi services in something close to the modern sense of the word, they never used the word “taxi” for service or the vehicles.  They did however for centuries keep the lucrative postal business in family hands.

The word taxi spread quickly around the world and exists as a borrowing in many languages but some tongues localized the spelling including Burmese (takka.ci), Cantonese (的士 (dik)), Mandarin (的士 (dīshì or díshì), Irish (tacsaí), Japanese (タクシー (takushī)), Korean (택시 (taeksi)), Malay (teksi), Welsh (tacsi), Yiddish (אַקסי‎ (taksi)), Yoruba (takisí & tasín), Asturian (tasi), Basque (taxilari & taximetro), Catalan (taxista), Czech (taxík), Danish (definite singular taxien, indefinite plural taxier, definite plural taxierne), Dutch (taxietje (as a diminutive & taxichauffeur (the driver) & Indonesian (taksi (a colonial descendent from the Dutch)) although with these, the English taxi often peacefully co-exists.

Hansom Cabs, New York City, 1900.

The Hansom cab was a two-wheeled horse-drawn carriage, named after its designer, English architect Joseph Hansom (1803–1882), founder of the architectural journal The Builder (1843) and noted for his work in the Gothic Revival style and . He patented the Hansom cab in 1834 and it became instantly popular, being more compact, faster and more manoeuvrable than the hackney cabs (pulled by Hackney horses) it replaced and safer too, the centre of gravity considerably lower.  What convinced many operators to switch was that the Hansom cab was light enough to be pulled by a single horse, lowering operating costs by at least 40% and their small size made accessible many more parts of London’s tight and congested nineteenth-century streets.  Within two years they had spread to the continent, throughout the British Empire and to the United States and after clockwork mechanical taximeters (then called taxameters) were in 1894 added to measure fares, the name became taxicab.  To this day, they’re still sometimes incorrectly called “handsome cabs”.

In aviation, taxi was a slang use, an allusion to the way a taxi driver slowly cruises when looking for fares, applied to an airplane “taxiing" slowly along the tarmac coming from or going to the runway.  At some airports, designated parts of the tarmac are still designated as taxiways, a word which seems not to have been otherwise adopted although runway is now often used in the fashion industry, the traditional catwalk seen by some as too gender-loaded.  Another adoption which didn’t endure was the 1930s “taxi dancer” (a woman whose services (as a dance partner) were available for hire at a dance hall).

Checker taxicab, circa 1974.

Immortalized over decades by their appearances in film and television, for decades the usually yellow (Dupont M6284 yellow was the actual paint-code) Checker was the taxicab which dominated the US market.  They were not retired from service until 1999, their appearance almost unchanged from the last major styling in 1959 and the final tranche in taxi service had covered more than a million miles (1.6m km), a reasonable achievement for a life spent mostly in the confines of cities.  The company in its modern form emerged just in time to suffer the effects of the great depression in the early 1930s but it survived and, although producing vehicles only in small volumes which never exceeded a few thousand a year, it remained profitable until the 1970s when the recession and two oil shocks threatened survival, it not being obvious that the capital could be raised to develop a new, more fuel-efficient generation of taxis.  At the same time, under pressure from operators, cities were de-regulating the technical requirements for taxis, meaning the mass-produced mainstream models from the major manufacturers could be added to fleets.  Cheaper to produce and buy, their adoption was the death knell for Checker and production ceased in 1982, the company continuing as a part supplier until finally shuttered in 2010 in the wake of the recession which followed the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).

Checker Marathon advertising, 1960s.

As well as the taxicab which was for six decades the mainstream line, between 1960-1982, Checker also sold a consumer version as the Marathon, aimed at the private buyer who was prepared to sacrifice the advantages of more modern designs for the virtues of the taxi (robustness, timelessness (albeit circa 1955) and interior space).  So dated was the appearance that Checkers built in the 1970s were often used in film and television even though the productions were depicting periods from earlier decades and in films set during the Cold War, they were popular as convincing substitutes the cars of Eastern Bloc apparatchiks.  The Marathon was available as a sedan or station wagon and even a few long-wheelbase limousines were built although in an age of stylistic exuberance, there was little demand for something which echoed the stolid lines of the early 1950s.

Most distinctive however were the six and eight-door Aerobuses aimed at the resort-hotel and airport shuttle business.  Available (off and on) between 1962-1977 and never built in great numbers, the eight-door models were the most numerous and both could be ordered as station wagons which Checker marketed sometimes as the “nine-door”, a European practice which counted the tailgate.  Surprisingly, despite the startlingly elongated appearance, there were few engineering challenges in developing and producing the Aerobus, the Marathon’s X-section reinforced frame was as sturdy as many light trucks and with a body made with heavy gauge steel, the lengthening process detracted little from structural integrity.  The affected central section was unchanged for its entire life and the anyway hardly expensive costs of development were amortized long before production ceased in 1977, something induced by a collapse in demand, not inherent unprofitability.

The Checker Limousine was an interesting venture into a market segment which did exist, even if not generally acknowledged.  There had always been those who easily could afford to buy a Cadillac yet instead drove Buicks or Oldsmobiles and their reasons varied.  Some eschewed ostentation, some (with conspicuous visibility to customers or clients) preferred to appear just prosperous enough to inspire confidence and others just couldn't see the additional value for the extra cost.  Checker thought they might be able to carve a niche in this segment and in 1963, announced what they would come to advertise as the "Custom Limousine" (although the initial publicity material described it as the "Marathon Town Custom"), built on a 129 inch (3277 mm) wheelbase, a 9 inch stretch of the standard platform, all the additional space gained by the rear compartment.

For Checker, it was neither a novel nor an expensive project, the engineering for the six and eight-door Aerobuses (1962-1977), respectively on 154½ inch (3924 mm) & 189 inch (4801 mm) wheelbases proving the robustness of the chassis and, in the tradition of the company, there was no attempt to offer the luxurious interior appointments familiar in most limousines although the quality of the upholstery was better and accessories like power windows were available; perhaps it was thought the divider isolating passengers from the chauffeur and the option of a vinyl roof was distinction enough.  There was though the luxury of space and an ease of ingress and egress which increasingly had been sacrificed as Cadillacs, Lincolns and Imperials had become lower.  With its flat floor and high roof, that might have been attractive for the older demographic of men who might have been tempted, many of whom presumably still wore hats, something they could leave on when seated, a design aspect last championed by Chrysler in the early 1950s.  Essentially, the Checker Limousine was little different in appearance to the to the GAZ-13 Chaika (Seagull), built in the USSR between 1959-1981 by Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ, Gorky Automobile Plant), almost exclusively for well-connected apparatchiks in the Communist Party.  A pastiche of early-mid 1950s US styling trends, most consider it owed its greatest debt to the Packards of the era though whether this was in genuine admiration or a nod to comrade Stalin’s fondness for the marque isn't known.

The Checker Limousine however never approached the GAZ either in the volume made nor longevity.  Priced (perhaps optimistically) low in the range of (non-limousine) Cadillacs, production didn't reach far into two figures and after three lacklustre seasons (1964-1967), the model was withdrawn from the list although Checker probably did amortize the investment, the 129 inch wheelbase platform re-cycled (the limousine's A19E chassis code changed to A12E for the purpose) to create a taxi version with seating for an additional two or three.  In Australia, that approach appealed to both Ford and GMH (General Motors Holden) which, in small volumes for the taxi and hire-car industries, offered cheaper, less well appointed, versions of their long-wheelbase executive models (respectively as the Fairlane Custom and the Statesman), an approach which lasted until the mid 1970s.

Long-time New York City taxi customer, Lindsay Lohan.

Flachkühler

Flachkühler (pronounced flak-koo-ler)

In German, (literally wide cooling device (radiator)), a name adopted by Daimler-Benz to describe the W111 Mercedes-Benz coupés and cabriolets built (1969-1971) with a lower, wider radiator grill than the earlier W111 (and W112) coupés and cabriolets (1961-1969).

Circa 1860s: The construct was Flach + kühler.  The adjective flach (the singular flacher, the comparative flacher and the superlative flachsten) (shallow (wide and not deep)) was from the Middle High German vlach, from the Old High German flah, from the Proto-Germanic flakaz of uncertain origin.  The construct of the noun Kühler ((1) cooler (anything device which cools) or (2) radiator (of an internal combustion engine) was kühlen +‎ -er.  Kühlen was from the Middle High German küelen, from the Old High German kuolōn & chuolen, from the Proto-Germanic kōlōną & kōlēną and related to kalaną (to be cold).  It was cognate with the Hunsrik kiele, the Luxembourgish killen, the Dutch koelen, the Saterland Frisian köile, the English cool (verb) and the Swedish kyla.  The German suffix -er (used to forms agent nouns etc from verbs (suffixed to the verb stem)) was from the Middle High German -ære & -er, from the Old High German -āri, from the Proto-West Germanic -ārī, from the Proto-Germanic -ārijaz, from the Latin -ārius.  When used as an adjective, kühler was a comparative degree of kühl ((1) cool (of temperature), (2) calm, restrained, passionless and (3) cool, frigid (particularly of the emotions)), from the Middle High German küele, from the Old High German kuoli, from the Proto-West Germanic kōl & kōlī, from the Proto-Germanic kōluz & kōlaz, from the primitive Indo-European gel-.  It was cognate with the Dutch koel and the English cool.  Flachkühler is a noun; the noun plural is Flachkühlers.

1965 Mercedes-Benz 300 SE Cabriolet (Hōchkühler)

The dimensions of the grill used on the Mercedes-Benz W111 coupé & cabriolet was dictated by the height of the three litre straight six (M189) engine used in the more exclusive W112 (300 SE) versions.  The M189 was one of several de-tuned variants of the M198 used in the 300SL Gullwing & Roadster (W198) which had started life as the M186 in the big 300 (W186, “Adenauer”) saloon before revealing it’s competition potential by gaining victories at the Nürburgring, the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico and, most famously, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  In the sports cars, the long-stroke six had been installed at an angle of 50^o and fitted with a dry sump which permitted a low hood (bonnet) line but in the W111 & W112 the engine was in a conventional perpendicular arrangement and used a wet sump, further adding to the height, thus the relatively tall grill.  The smaller sixes used in the car (2.2 litre (M127); 2.5 (M129) & 2.8 (M130)) were of a more modern, short-stroke design and didn’t demand such a capacious engine bay but production line rationalization didn’t make viable two different sets of coachwork for what were low volume models.

1971 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 Coupé (Flachkühler)

By the mid 1960s however, Mercedes-Benz realized their gusty, high-revving sixes were technologically bankrupt and for success in the vital US market, they needed a mass-market V8.  Their big-block 6.3 litre V8 (M100), introduced in 1963 with the 600 Grosser (W100) wasn’t suitable for down-sizing so a physically smaller range was developed, the first of which was designated M116; released in 1969 and in displacements of 3.5, 3.8 & 4.2 litres, it would serve the line until 1991.  The 3.5 came first and in 1969 it was fitted to the W111 coupé & cabriolet.  By then, the old 3.0 litre six had been discontinued so the tall grill, which by then had come to look rather baroque, as no longer required and the factory took the opportunity to modernize things and the new, lower wider grill came to be known as the Flachkühler (literally “flat cooler” and best translated as “flat radiator”, the engineers deciding the earlier design should be referred to as the Hōchkühler (high radiator).  Hōch (high, tall; great; immense; grand; of great importance) was from the Middle High German hōch, from the Old High German hōh, from the Proto-West Germanic hauh, from the Proto-Germanic hauhaz, from the primitive Indo-European kewk-, a suffixed form of kew-; it may be compared to the Dutch hoog, the English high and the Swedish hög.

1968 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE Cabriolet (Hōchkühler, left) and 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 Cabriolet (Flachkühler, right).

Because of the first oil shock in 1973, the plans for mass-market (a relative term) Mercedes-Benz V8s were interrupted for a while but the 3.5 litre W111s had already reached the end of the line before the embargo began.  Produced only until 1971, they were always expensive and only 3,270 coupés and 1,232 cabriolets were built and, it being another age, they were available with a four-speed manual gearbox, an option a few actually choose.  The Mercedes-Benz manual gear-change was a rather clunky thing but such is rarity value, they have a cult following.  The whole ecosystem of 280 SE 3.5 coupés and cabriolets is actually a cult in itself, perfectly restored cabriolets commanding prices in excess of US$500,000 and some German tuning houses will charge even more for examples modernized with attributes like ABS, later V8 engines, transmissions and suspension.  Even now, although in essence the structure dates from the late 1950s and the mechanicals a decade later, the appeal remains because the things are remarkably usable in modern conditions and ascetically, nothing Mercedes-Benz has made since has anything like the elegance.

1953 Morgan Plus 4 ("flat radiator", top left), 1955 Morgan Plus 4 (top right), 1969 Morgan Plus 8 (bottom left) and 2024 Morgan Plus 6 (bottom right).  Thematically, not all that much has changed since 1954.  

Strangely, the idea of the “flat radiator” had been around for a while in the vernacular of collector car circles but it referred to another aspect of geometry.  In 1952, Morgan of Malvern Link, Worcestershire, was (as it is now) a cottage industry manufacturing pre-war sports cars with more modern engines and they received advice from the manufacturer of their separate headlight assemblies that because MG’s new TF (due for release in 1953) would have its headlamps integrated into the bodywork, production of the housing was ending.  There being no alternative supplier, Morgan were compelled to follow MG’s lead restyle things so the headlamps were faired in.  Concurrent with this, the Morgan factory took the opportunity to do one of their rare styling changes, abandoning their long-establish upright radiator grill one mounted in a cowl that blended into the hood (bonnet).  It wasn’t exactly the onset of modernity but there presumably was some aerodynamic gain.  Just to assure buyers change wasn’t being made for the sake of change, disc brakes would have to wait another few years.  The change to the grill was made in 1953 although, because of the way Morgan operated, some of the older style cars were actually assembled later than the new.  The cars with the traditional Morgan look which features the upright grill are known among aficionados as the “flat radiator Morgans”.

Impromptu Flachkühler: In October 2005, Lindsay Lohan went for a drive in her Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG.  There was a low-speed unpleasantness with a van which caused the roadster to suffer a Flachkühler.

Bespoke

Bespoke (pronounced bih-spohk)

(1) A simple past tense and past participle of bespeak.

(2) Of clothes, those made to individual order and custom custom-made.

(3) The making or selling such clothes.

(4) By extension, anything (physical or weightless) produced to a customer’s specifications, especially if a one-off creation.

(5) To ask for in advance; to reserve (obsolete).

(6) As bespeak & bespoken, betrothed or engaged to be married; spoken for (obsolete except in the literary novel).

1745–1755: The adjective was a coining in Modern English in the sense of “custom-made goods; made to order (as distinguished from ready-made; an item on the shelf of a shop)” from the late sixteenth century Middle English bespoken, the past-participle adjective from bespeak (in its sense of “arrange beforehand”), a prefixed variant of speak.  The verb bespeak was from the Middle English bispeken, from the Old English besprecan (speak about, speak against, complain), the construct being be- + sprecan (to speak).  A common Germanic compound (the cognates including the Old Saxon bisprecan, the Dutch bespreken, the Old High German bisprehhan and the German besprechen) originally meaning “to call out”, it evolved by the 1580s to enjoy a wide range of meaning in English, including “speak up”, “oppose”, “request”, “discuss”, “arrange” and “order (goods)”.  By virtue of the different application of the be- prefix, the connections between the various meanings of bespoke, bespeaking; bespeak etc are thought at least very loose and it’s clear some arose independently of others.  Bespoke long was used usually of tailored suits and other clothing but in recent decades it has been applied (with some enthusiasm) to products as diverse as a one-off Rolls-Royce and customized hacking software offered on the dark web.  Bespeak was from the Middle English bespeken & bispeken, from the Old English bespecan & besprecan (to speak about, speak against, accuse of, claim at law, complain), from the Proto-Germanic bisprekaną (to discuss, blame), the construct being be- +‎ speak.  It was cognate with the Scots bespeke (to beseech, speak or negotiate with), the West Frisian besprekke (to discuss), the Dutch bespreken (to discuss, review; debate) and the German besprechen (to discuss, review, talk about).  Bespoke & bespoken are verbs & adjectives, bespeak is a noun & verb, bespeaking is a verb, bespeaker & bespokeness are nouns and bespokely is an adverb; the noun plural use is rare.

The be- prefix was from the Middle English be- & bi-, from the Old English be-, from the Proto-Germanic bi- (be-), from the Proto-Germanic bi (near, by), ultimately from the primitive Indo-European hepi (at, near) and cognate with the Saterland Frisian, West Frisian, Dutch, German Low German, German and Swedish be-.  Although there remain in English many relics of its use, (becalmed, beseige et al), the be- prefix has long ceased to be productive.  It was used to modify other forms to create various meanings: (1) By, near, next to, around, close to (beset), (2) Aound; about (belay, bestir, belive), (3) About, regarding, concerning, over (bemoan, bewail), (4) On, upon, at, to, in contact with something (behold, befall), (5) Off, away, over, across (behead, besleeve), (6) As an intensifier (ie thoroughly, excessively; completely; utterly) (belabour, bedazzle), (7) All around; about; abundantly; all over (belick, bescatter), (8) Forming verbs derived from nouns or adjectives, usually with the sense of "to make, become, or cause to be" (becalm, befriend) and (9) Used to intensify adjectives meaning "adorned with something", often those with the suffix -ed (now mostly archaic or informal) (besequined, befeathered, beclawed, beloved).

Artist Louise Duggan (b 1974) delivers the bespoke "mixed-media work" Blue Lips, commissioned by Lindsay Lohan to hang in her villa in Dubai, June 2023.

Bespoke is an uncontroversial word if applied in the way which for centuries mostly it was: clothing custom made for an individual, based on measurements taken prior to the a tailor or seamstress cutting the fabric.  It was used also of the shoes made by cobblers, the gloves sewed by glove makers, the hats created by milliners and so on, all of whom had their own methods of maintaining their customer records, those dealing with body parts which usually didn’t much change able to use the same dimensions for decades; other had to re-measure with some frequency.  In the case of cobblers, for regular customers they would keep a pair of wooden lasts which emulated exactly the shape of the feet.  The synonyms for bespoke in this context included “custom-made”, “customized”, “purpose-built”, “tailored” & “tailor-made” and the traditional antonyms were “off the peg”, “off the rack” & “off the shelf”.  In recent years, “bespoke” has become a marketing term and stuff which is far from unique and in many cases produced in great volume (perhaps with some minor change) is now often labeled “bespoke” and “bespoke solution” is a favorite in the software business, whether it be something to manage a hairdressing salon or code on the dark web supplied by Russian hackers to the DPRK (North Korean) military for enable theft or covert operations.

Because of the way Google harvest it data, their ngrams tracking trends in the use of words aren’t wholly accurate and even the degree of accuracy can’t be assessed but the trend lines are thought vaguely indicative and it appears bespoke came increasingly to be used in the late twentieth century and the rate of increase has shown no signs of subsiding.  That may to some extent be accounted for by Google’s methods or the publications over-represented in its catchment but, impressionistically it seems plausible and in the US, scholars by the 1990s were noting the way bespoke was tending to supplant the traditional American “custom”, apparently because the word had appeal because it conveyed “wealth and prestige” whereas custom had been devalued by its association with things like hotted-up motor cycles.  If bespoke is uncontroversial when used of anything genuinely one-off, the appropriateness when used of anything else needs to be assessed on a case by case basis and because it’s so popular in the business of expensive cars, they provide a good case-studies.

The Maserati 5000 GT (1959-1966)

1959 Maserati 5000 GT (Shah of Iran) by Touring.

Before the Ayatollahs ran Iran, it was ruled by the Shah (king) and he got a lot more fun out of life than his clerical successors, noted especially as a connoisseur and of fast, exotic and expensive cars, his collection including multiple models from Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce, Ferrari and Maserati among others.  In 1958 he’d driven Maserati’s then popular 3500 GT but thought it lacking in power and, because hundreds a year were sold to the (rich) public, a bit common.  Accordingly, after receiving material advertising both the 3500 GT and the remaining 450S race cars the factory wished to dispose of after withdrawing from racing, the shah decided he wanted a combination of the two, the race engine in the road car.  To have it created, essentially he sent Maserati a blank cheque and asked them to call when it was ready.  Delivered to the shah (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, 1919-1980) in 1959, it was almost a secret but when a second, commissioned by a South African customer,  was displayed at the 1959 Turin Motor show, it generated such interest that Maserati were soon fielding enquiries from rich commoners wanting what royalty had.  Priced stratospherically however, there weren’t enough rich folk on the planet to make it a viable option for their production lines so it entered the catalogue as a bespoke item, Maserati modifying the 3500 chassis which, frankly had been a bit over-taxed by the big V8 and tweaking the engine still further, slightly increasing the capacity but in a way that rendered it more docile, yet still a howler when stirred.  The chassis appeared in the list and buyers could choose their own coachbuilder and eventually eight produced their own interpretations, the most numerous being by Carrozzeria Allemano which, over the years, finished twenty-two, the Allemano cars thought also the most alluring.

1959 Maserati 5000 GT by Allemano.

So the conclusion must be that the Shah’s original was and remains a true bespoke creation because exclusively it was built for him.  Of the other 33 5000 GTs built, although they were all variations on the theme and mechanically similar, no two were exactly alike and each was built in response to an order from an individual customer, some of whom specified certain touches.  Given that, all probably deserve to be regarded as bespoke though pedants might insist the chassis was a regular production item and only the coachwork was truly bespoke.  Few seem to agree and on the rare occasions the things are offered for sale, they’re almost always described as “bespoke”.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom IV (1950-1956)

1950 Rolls-Royce Phantom IV pick-up truck.

Among collectors, the Phantom IV has quite an allure because it was one of the few cars produced in any number never offered for sale to the general public, only 18 produced and available only to head of state or crowned royalty (a distinction important in royal circles which has its own pecking order).  In a manner similar to the Maserati 5000 GT, no two Phantom IVs were exactly the same although all were built on substantially the same underpinnings (the only Rolls-Royce passenger cars ever to use a straight-8).  Thus all should be though “bespoke” in the context of the industry but there was one version which was radically different, a Phantom IV pick-up truck (ute in Australian parlance) which was used by the factory to ferry various bits and pieces from place to place.  So it’s a genuine one off pick-up truck but because it was just a functional workhorse which existed only because an unsalable prototype chassis was available, it’s never been regarded as something bespoke, the long ago scrapped unique “shop ute” just a historic curiosity.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom V (1959-1968) & Phantom VI (1968-1990)

1973 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI "All Weather Cabriolet" (four-door convertible) by Fura (right) and 1971 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI DHC by Fura (left). 

By comparison with the exclusive Phantom IV, its two successors were almost mass produced, 1206 (832 of the Phantom V & 374 of the VI respectively) crafted over three decades.  In this case, it’s thought only some should be thought truly bespoke because although there were a few variations in the coachwork, many were substantially the same and its only the ones with the greatest differences (notably the odd sedanca de ville, the handful of landaulets or the other “state” cars with their elevated rooflines) which are usually thought “bespoke” and even they weren’t unique things like the Phantom IVs.  Two of the Phantom VI chassis however were indisputably bespoke.  By the 1970s, it was only the big Phantom VI which Rolls-Royce still built on the separate chassis which made bespoke bodies easier to mount so anyone wanting a really exclusive Rolls-Royce had no other choice.  Accordingly the Italian house Fura fashioned two very big bespoke creations, one a drophead coupé (DHC, which by then the rest of the world was calling a cabriolet or convertible), the other described as an "all weather cabriolet" (which eventually was re-fashioned as a four-door convertible).  Both were on a scale not seen since seen since the 1930s and nothing like them has since been attempted.  Because the limousine chassis was designed for something long, narrow and tall, both the Fura cars were fundamentally ill-proportioned although skilled photographers have managed to create pleasing images by selecting just the right angle.  Flawed though they were, at the time there was probably nothing on four wheels which so conveyed disposable wealth which, in many cases, is of course often the essence of the bespoke.  It was a good thing they made such an impression because presumably it dissuaded people from looking too closely: underneath the engineering was pure Phantom VI which meant drum brakes and a rear axle suspended on semi-elliptic (cart) springs so it was (refined) Ford Model T (1908) technology under all that leather and walnut.  Such was the attention to detail those cart spring were encased in leather so those enjoying the seclusion of the rear compartment (trimmed usually in West of England cloth rather than the leather on which the chauffeur sat) weren't disturbed by any squeaks.   

1956 Mercedes-Benz 300c (W186 "Adenauer") Estate Car by Binz.

Consumption can be conspicuous yet still subtle, achieved usually if a bespoke creation is both expensive and functional.  The Mercedes-Benz 300 saloons and four-door cabriolet of (W186 & W189 1951-1962) were large, stately and beautifully built and the platform attracted coachbuilders who saw the potential for estate cars (station wagons), ambulances and (especially) hearses.  Many were built and the hearses in particular typically aren't regarded as bespoke because they were essentially catalogue items with little variation between editions.  Some of the rare estates ("shooting brakes" to the English, "station wagons" in North America and for a time, "station sedans" if built by Holden, General Motors' (GM) Australian outpost) however have always been treated as bespoke even though from an engineering point of view the changes were minimal and the styling hardly imaginative.  The reason for the association seems to be that they “dripped money”; even to the uninformed they were obviously expensive so it seems possible there is the matter of "bespoke by acclamation".  Interestingly, in 1960 the factory did their own one-off 300 Estate, this one a “telemetry car” built in the era before sensors to travel at high speed on a test track, recording data from the vehicle ahead.  Styled in an almost avant-garde manner with rear glass which curved into the roof, the factory regarded it rather as Rolls-Royce treated their pick-up: a mule to be used until something better came along.  They never called it bespoke.

1965 Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake.

Sir David Brown (1904–1993) liked his DB5 coupé (which the factory in their English way called a "saloon") but found it too cramped comfortably to accommodate his polo gear, shotguns and hunting dogs.  Now, that would be called a “first world problem” but because Brown then owned Aston Martin, he simply wrote out a work order and had his craftsmen create a bespoke shooting brake (an English term which means “station wagon owned by someone rich”) which they did by hand-forming the aluminum with hammers over wooden formers.  It delighted him and solved his problem but created another because good customers stared writing him letters asking for their own.  Unfortunately, Aston Martin was at full capacity building DB5s and developing the up-coming DB6 and V8 models.  With a bulging order book, the resources didn’t exist to add another niche model so the project was out-sourced to the coachbuilder Radford which built a further 11 (and subsequently another 6 based on the DB6).  That Brown’s original car was bespoke seems clear but the others are a gray area because the coachbuilder’s records and assessments of the cars indicate they were identical in all but the color of the paint and leather trim.  There may have been only 12 DB5s and 6 DB6s but by conventional definition, they came of a production line, albeit a leisurely and exclusive one so can all but the original be thought truly bespoke?  According to the Aston Martin website, they are bespoke so that’s presumably the last word on the subject.

The Smart Fortwo (top left) and some bespoke imaginings.

The happy combination of the internet, Photoshop and a large cohort of gullible viewers some years ago encouraged the creation of a meme purporting to be a survey of the bespoke carbon fibre bodies available to be bolted to the diminutive Smart Fortwo (C451; 2007-2015).  Even a cursory look at the scale of the humans included in some of the photos should have been enough for people to work out this was fake news but the factory is said to have received “some” enquiries asking where the bespoke bodies could be bought.