Landau (pronouned lan-daw
(U) or lan-dou (non-U))
(1) A light,
four-wheeled (traditionally horse-drawn) carriage with two or four passenger seats (the original
landaus were two seaters but when four-seat versions became common, the two-seaters informally were dubbed landaulets), the folding top for the four-seat version made in two parts which could be let down or folded back, the two meeting over the middle of the passenger
compartment; in the four-seat versions, the front and rear passenger seats would face
each other, an arrangement now often called “vis-à-vis seating”.
(2) By
extension, a style of automobile coachwork (usually a limousine or large sedan) with a partially convertible roof
arrangement, the most rearward part retractable.
(3) A
model name for automobiles now with no precise definition but typically was applied to vehicles with some variation in the treatment of the roof (though
not necessarily a configuration and often something merely decorative).
1743
(1723 in the German): The orthodox history is the carriages were named after the German city of Landau because it was there they seem first to have been produced. The German originals were Landauers, on the model of the Berliner, a carriage with origins in the city of Berlin. The city of Landau in der Pfalz (Landach in the Palatine German and
usually clipped to Landau) is an autonomous (kreisfrei) town in the southern Rhineland-Palatinate. Land was from the common Germanic element land (land, territory (which obviously
endures in English), from the Proto-Germanic landą, from the primitive Indo-European lend- (land,
heath); it was cognate with the Proto-Celtic landā. The origin of the
second element is disputed. Landau, landaulet & landaulette are nouns; the noun plural is landaus.
The
Landau
A four-seat landau.
Not all historians of transportation concur with the Germanic origin. The alternative etymology suggests the name of the carriage
was really from the Spanish lando (a
light four-wheeled carriage drawn by mules), from the Arabic al-andul and the claim by the Germans was
just blatant commercial opportunism. If
one accepts the orthodox etymology, in 1723, when first displayed in the city of
Landau, the description Landauer
meant one thing: a two-seater horse-drawn light carriage configured with four
wheels on two sprung axles and with a fabric top which could be thrown back (ie
lowered) to the rear. It was a "luxury
vehicle" and as a two-seater a marker of wealth but, as Ford in the late 1950s worked out when considering how to stimulate sales of their two-seat Thunderbird (1955-1957), it was obvious a larger
market beckoned were a four-seat version available. Accordingly, production commenced on what was
essentially a LWB (long wheelbase) chassis, made by splicing together the passenger compartments of two Landaus, the seats in the
traditional (vis-à-vis) arrangement of two benches facing each other. An additional attraction of the approach was production line rationalization, the design allowing the existing folding roof to be re-used and duplicated (ie "mirrored"), one hinged from the front, one from the rear; when erected, they met in the centre above the passengers. Access to the compartment was provided by one
or two side-doors, the upper section of which was a framed glass window which
could be removed (a la the accessory fitted to some phaetons although later Landaus would feature "wind-down" glass). All these designs and mechanisms would at some point appear on early automobiles which was predictable for devices known originally as "horseless carriages". In the records from the time, there are
drawings of these four-seat carriages with a single fabric roof (hinged from the rear, in the style of the modern convertible) but it’s not clear how many, if any,
were built and the plans may never have gone beyond being a "concept".
Before
there were landaus, another carriage had provided an entry provoking disputes among historians. Designed probably in the late
1660s by a Piedmontese architect under commission from the quartermaster-general
to Frederick William (1620–1688; Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia
1640-1688), several of what came to be known as Berliners were used by the elector
to travel from Berlin to Paris, then a trip of 1,055 km (655 miles) and, upon arrival,
the elegant but obviously robust vehicles caused a sensation and immediately
the design was copied by Parisian coachbuilders attracted by the ease of
construction, efficiency of space utilization and critically, the economical
use of materials which made them cheaper to build. Lighter and with a lower centre of gravity
which made them also safer, the French named them berlines in honor of their
city of origin and quickly they began to supplant the less practical and frankly
uncomfortable state and gala coaches which had been the definitive seventeenth
century carriage. After the four-seat carriages came to be the "default" Landaus, the smaller versions were for a time known variously as "Landaulets" and "Landauettes" but the use didn't persist.
The origin
of the Berliner is undisputed but there have long been “alternative facts” contesting
the genesis of the landau. The generally accepted history (first built in Landau and thus known as Landauers) is supported by contemporary literature, the carriage mentioned in Goethe's
(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749–1832) epic-length poem Hermann and Dorothea (1796-1797):
Constantly, while he thus spoke, the crowds of
men and of women
Grew, who their homeward way were over the
market-place wending;
And, with the rest, there also returned, his daughters
beside him,
Back to his modernized house on the opposite side
of the market,
Foremost merchant of all the town, their opulent
neighbor,
Rapidly driving his open barouche,—it was builded
in Landau.
Lively now grew the streets, for the city was handsomely
peopled.
Many a trade was therein carried on, and large
manufactures.
A
barouche was a large, open, four-wheeled carriage, historians of the
industry suggesting Goethe was describing a Landauer and Jane Austen (1775-1817)
in Emma (1816) wrote of a “barouche-landau” which combined “…the best features of a barouche and a landau” although the blend was apparently “not a
popular innovation”. Noting this critique, Austen scholar Jennifer Ewing (Library Director at Southern California Seminary in El Cajon), pondered
whether the “… choice of carriage itself
speak to the elusiveness of the Sucklings in Emma, always promised, but never
realized?” Such is the way of modern academic deconstruction but carriages were important in Austen’s writings, the size and
style of a man’s carriage used as a marker of his wealth and
social distinction, the author as astute an observer of such things as any Instagram influencer.
The classic barouche was a four-wheeled, shallow-bodied carriage
with an open design and low sides, configured for four passengers in a vis-à-vis
arrangement with a folding leather top which covered only the rear seat, the
front left exposed. It was thus really a
“summer carriage” for the “see and be seen” set, the designs noted for their
elegance. The lack of practicality made
them a niche product for the rich and the barouche-landau was essentially a barouche
with a second folding roof. The customer
always being right, the Landau prospered while the Barouche-Landau, being
neither one thing nor the other, soon was squeezed from the market. Barouche was from the dialectal German Barutsche, from the Italian baroccio, from the Late Latin birotium, from the Classical Latin birotus (chariot), the construct being bi- (two, double) + rot(a) (wheel) + -us (the noun suffix). As was not unusual, in English the spelling was altered to
suggest a French origin. An elegant summary
of carriage design is provided by the wonderful Susanna Ives, without whom most would not
know the elliptical springs used as often as suspension systems were in the
trade termed “nut-crackers”; disappointingly, this was an allusion to the shape
of the metal rather than the effect on male anatomy from the sometime rough
ride they induced. Now we know.
A more
dramatic story is that associated with the epic journey by Austrian Archduke
Joseph (1678–1711; Holy Roman Emperor & King Joseph I of Austria 1705-1711)
who in 1702 arranged a fleet of 77 coaches to carry him and his entourage of
250 from Vienna to Landau, there to take the command at the siege of what was
then a fortress on the French border. It’s
claimed the feat of moving the 250 men in 14 daily stages was so extraordinary the coaches were forever associated with the town of Landau, the French
soldiers also so impressed they took the name back to Paris. It’s a romantic story (something not typical in the history of military logistics) but Goethe and Austen
are thought more persuasive.
The
theory of an Arabic origin of the name is interesting, the argument being the Arabic
al-andul (litter, cars (and related
to the Sanskrit hindola (a swinging
cradle or hammock; an ornamental swing or litter in which figures of kṛṣṇa are carried during the Swing-festival in the
light half of the month śrāvaṇa))) came into Spanish as lando (four-seat cart drawn by mules) from which it migrated in the
form "landau" into English & French and was only then brought into German by
popular etymological reinterpretation with the place name Landau and formed thus into
Landauer. The Arabic derivation has the
advantage there’s no reliance of anecdotal tales of military adventure or historically
dubious claims of manufacturing innovation but it’s wholly inconsistent with
the chronology of verified evidence. The
word as the name of a carriage was documented in German in 1723 (and in English
by 1743), but there's no trace in Spanish until 1830 and most etymologists
think it more likely from the French than the Arabic.
Landaulet and Landaulette
The landaulette was a body style developed early
in the twentieth century by car manufacturers and specialist coachbuilders, the
construct being landau(l) + -ette (from the Middle English -ette,
a borrowing from the Old French -ette,
from the Latin -itta, the feminine
form of -ittus. It was used to form nouns meaning "a smaller
form of something"). A landaulette was
distinguished by the compartment being covered by a convertible top
while the front remained enclosed (although a landaulette rear-section was
sometimes combined with the sedanca de-ville coachwork which had an open
section also at the front (sometimes with a detachable top), leaving only a
central portion with a permanently fixed roof.
It was once a very popular style used in taxis (in the days before air-conditioning (A-C))
and was a feature of many parade limousines used for figures such as heads of
state when they wished to be more visible to large crowds. This use is now rare because of concerns about
security and those old state landaulettes which survived ended up mostly as movie props or in museums & private collections. There were rare examples of use in the wedding trade but while (most) brides tend not to be concerned about a risk of assassination, they do think about their hair and, given a choice, most probably opted for something closed. In the UK, historically, landaulette was used
when referring to motor vehicles while the older landaulet was reserved for horse-drawn
carriages. The construct of landaulet was landau(l) + -et (from the Middle English -et, from the Old French –et
& its feminine variant -ette,
from the Late Latin -ittus; loosely construed, it was used to form
diminutives. By the early twentieth century, "landaulet" had become the standard form on the continent but it refers to the same coachwork as landaulette. Both words are now rare and it’s only specialists who are likely to apply them correctly.
When used by car manufacturers "landaulet" & "landaulette" always describes a vehicle in which a roof was in some way partially retractable but so loosely did "landau" come to be applied that it really meant only what the producer said it meant. For decades, it was popular with US manufacturers (surprisingly, among the ever-imitative Japanese manufacturers, only Mazda followed the naming trend) which had decided the phrase "landau roof" could be used to describe various treatments, usually involving gluing on vinyl to a roof's rear portion . With that, "landau" ceased necessarily to imply a roof which partially could be retracted and came to refer to something which looked (at a distance) vaguely as if it might.
1979
Chrysler Cordoba with opera windows and landau roof in padded white vinyl.
Inside, the car is trimmed in "rich Corinthian
leather".One effect
of World War II (1939-1945) was that advances in science and engineering which likely
would have taken at least decades to emerge happened in the space of a few
years and as well as jet engines and atomic bombs, in the early post-war years
there were factories mass-producing vinyl, Perspex and fibreglass. Supply assured, all that was required was
demand and this US capitalism was more adept than any at stimulating, one of
the more unfortunate consequences being the vinyl roof appearing on cars. Cadillac with the 1956 Eldorado seems to have
started the trend (which wouldn’t be (almost) eradicated until the 1990s) and
while most of the early implementations covered the whole surface, in the 1970s
the “landau roof” became a thing, often in conjunction with “opera windows” (the
origin of which were the “portholes” added to the fibreglass hard-top on the 1956
Ford Thunderbird as a visibility aid).
What the “landau roof” was intended to recall was the folding leather
top on carriages and earlier automobiles; whether many customers really picked
up the historic allusion is uncertain but in the US the look caught on because
on some models it was an extra-cost option and often it was ordered. In retrospect the fad was a contribution to
the phrase describing the 1970s: “the decade style forgot” but to many at the time the landau roof seemed a
good idea and the big parking spaces in golf club car parks were for decades riddled
with the things.
1977 Mazda
Cosmo L Coupé with opera windows and landau roof in padded cream vinyl.
Although in the US the fender-mounted side
mirrors were known informally as “Datsun mirrors”, all cars produced for the
JDM (Japanese domestic market) were between 1952 and 1983 required to have a
matching set of フェンダーミラー
(fendā mirā (an adaptation of the US
-English “fender mirror”, known in the UK as “wing mirrors”.)) and these sat
about mid-way between the base of the A-pillar and front bumper bar. The law was in 1983 liberalized only because
Western manufacturers had argued the refusal to allow the door-mounted mirrors
(which had by then long been elsewhere the standard) was a “non-tariff trade
barrier”. Quickly they vanished from JDM
showrooms but remained on the street because even now, fendā mirā continue to be fitted to most JDM vehicles built for the
taxi market because not only do they provide a wider vista, they also protrude
less from the body, something of some significance in the crowded traffic
plying the often narrow roads in Japanese cities; for taxi drivers, every saved
millimetre can be precious. Sociologists
explain the there is also a cultural imperative, the fender mirrors allowing
customers to feel a greater sense of privacy because drivers can use the
mirrors without turning their head toward the passenger seat; such a glance
could be misconstrued and face could be lost.
In the US, there is a small but dedicated cult which retro-fits fendā mirā for that
"authentic" Japanese look.
It didn’t spread to Europe
or Australia but what Detroit did was at the time a bit of a cargo cult for the
Japanese industry and there, opera windows and landau roofs duly appeared
although surprisingly, of the ever imitative Japanese manufacturers, it seems
to have been only Mazda which used the name and then only for export sales. Mazda’s CD Cosmo/RX-5 series (1975-1981) was
a (scaled down) PLC (personal luxury car) on the popular US template and while
the early versions used only a fastback body with three side windows, in 1977
came a Lincoln Continentalesque notchback coupé model called the Landau,
complete with opera windows and landau vinyl roof with the obligatory
padding. Never a big seller on
international markets (where it appeared as both the RX-5 (with Wankel engine)
and 121 (with piston engine), the Mini Mark V Lincoln was a big hit in the JDM although there it was sold as the Cosmo L. Why the “Landau” named wasn’t used in the JDM
isn’t known but rather than PLC Mazda preferred PSC (Premium Specialty Car) and
despite the use of padded vinyl, its museum notes of the Cosmo L: “Its
leather-covered landau roof further emphasized the premium feel”. Maybe it was felt “Landau” was a bit obscure
and “L” might be thought by buyers to denote “Luxury” or “Leather”.
The Ford (Australia) Landau (ZG70;1973-1976)
Even at the time, the Ford P5 Landau (Ford's internal code was JG70 but because it was the companion product to the P5 LTD, usually it's described as "Landau" or "P5 Landau") seemed to many not a good idea. Sales of large ("compact" in 1973 US terms) coupés had dropped precipitously since a brief burst of popularity and the only thing on the market which might have been a competitor, the Chrysler by Chrysler hardtop (with its own bizarre take on the vinyl roof), had been dropped earlier in the year after eighteen months of disappointing sales. Ford's own Hardtop, debuting late in 1972 had come too late to enjoy much of the earlier fad which probably was a warning of sorts but it also meant there was a warehouse full of Hardtop shells for which demand was diminishing. Thus the Landau, a two-door version of Ford Australia's new LTD, a (much) stretched and (much) gorped (gorp was what the industry once called bling) Falcon, the parts-sharing meaning the Landau could be brought into production at modest cost; from the Detroit parts-bin came Mercury hidden-headlight assemblies and Thunderbird wheel-covers, the later marvelously intricate but so vulnerable to impacts with Australia's high kerb-sides they were soon replaced with units which protruded less. Underneath lay the familiar combination of Ford's 351 cubic inch (5.8 litre) Cleveland (335) V8 and FMX automatic transmission, the most notable mechanical innovation being the country's first locally produced (as opposed to assembled) car with four-wheel disk brakes, Ford even claiming the numbers of Landaus produced as counting towards the brakes being homologated for series-production racing, the rationale being the Landau's mechanical similarity to the Falcon GT Hardtops used in competition. It now sounds implausible but that's how things used to be done.
The Landau's other "structural" change from a Falcon Hardtop was a pair of small sheet-metal "plugs", crudely welded into part of the rear-window apertures so a more "formal" roofline could be fashioned. The seams were never finished to a fine standard because one feature of the LTD & Landau was a padded vinyl roof which, handily, covered the imperfections. There was a precedent for doing that because a vinyl roof appeared on all 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbirds, it being cheaper to glue the stuff on rather than properly finish the metalwork around the rear window after the stylish but aerodynamically dubious buttresses had been removed. The previous year, Dodge had done the metalwork on their Daytona "aero car" but they made only 500-odd whereas the rules had been changed, compelling Plymouth to produce some four times as many Superbirds. Plymouth didn't add any padding and a padded vinyl roof is a really bad idea because it means a layer of porous foam rubber sits between the vinyl and ferrous metal of the roof, moisture accumulating and rust soon starting with proximity to a coastline or the tropics tending to dictate how soon and ultimately to what extent. That's also how things used to be done. Still, once inside it was plush enough with lashings of (real) leather and four bucket seats (though despite the bulk of the thing the rear compartment was cramped and the cut-down windows made travel a claustrophobic experience) although the budget didn't extend to real timber, the "woodgrain" on the steering wheel and instrument panel being plastic. As Ford summed it up, what was being offered included “reproduction
English burl walnut, a leather
grained vinyl roof, subtle
soft chamois toned leather & doeskin
tone cut pile carpet”. In fairness, "reproduction" is used in that sense in the art market. In the cockpit, the highlights were a twenty-four hour analogue clock and aviation inspired controls for the air-conditioning, recalling those installed rather more extravagantly on European machinery like the Facel Vega; they delighted some although one grumpy reviewer dismissed them as "an affectation". Just so people knew they were looking at something classy, pressed into the padded roof (about where the welding seams were being hidden) was a (wholly fake) coat of arms with lions rampant, two more escutcheons glued-on inside to comfort the passengers.
As a road car it was capable, even rapid by the standards of the time (only those used to the torque of the US big-block V8s would have though it anything but "effortless") and the new brakes really were (pre-ABS) world class. For commuting or touring it was a comfortable experience, at least for two although it could be hard to manage in urban conditions, the Hardtop's already marginal rear-visibility further compromised by the loss of side-glass and the combination of the coupé's lowered roofline and almost flat rear window meant the aft-view was like looking through a slit. That was unfortunate because the Hardtops had been designed with series-production racing in mind so the rear fenders flared outwards, allowing wide tyres to be fitted without modification to the bodywork. Reversing a Landau could be a challenge but it was one not many took up, fewer than 1400 sold in a three-year run. The timing of the release had been unfortunate for not only was it now in a dying market segment but within three months, the first oil shock hit. The 351 V8, even it's more efficient (pre-emission control) form was always thirsty but in the Landau with all the luxury bits and pieces adding some 440 lb (200 KG) to the anyway hardly svelte Falcon Hardtop, it was worse. When the P6 LTD was released in 1976, although one P6 Landau prototype had constructed for evaluation, the coupé quietly was dropped but now, the survivors are a collectable, one popular modification the removal of the vinyl roof and the proper finishing of the welded cover-plates. None of the history of course explains why Ford called the thing "Landau" given (1) no part of the roof folded and (2) the padded vinyl was applied all the way to the windscreen, the coverage not even hinting at the tradition. The answer was the product planners just liked the name because the thought it imparted something prestigious and exclusive; by 1973 "landau" was as distant from the horse-drawn originals as was "brougham", another popular moniker for gorped machines.
The Mercedes-Benz Landaulets
Mercedes-Benz 600 (W100, 1963-1981) Landaulet (long-roof). Most of the 600 Landaulets were built with the six-door coachwork but there were some which used the four-door body and the vis-à-vis seating. The ones with the longer folding soft-top informally were called the "presidential" but this was never the factory's designation.
Although in production for almost two decades, Mercedes-Benz built only 2677 600s, 428 of which were the LWB Pullmans. Of those, 59 were configured as Landaulets with a convertible roof extending either over the rearmost seats or the whole passenger compartment. Just 12 of the latter were built and the only one known to have bought a matched-pair was Kim Il-Sung (Kim I, 1912–1994; Great Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (the DPRK, North Korea)) who ordered two in 1968. Just as the DPRK and its grateful population passed to his descendants, Kim Jong-Il (1941–2011; Kim II, Dear Leader of the DPRK 1994-2011) and Kim Jong-Un (Kim III, b 1983; Supreme Leader of the DPRK since 2011), they also inherited the Landaulets which for decades were a fixture at state occasions like military parades. Buying a brace ensured an unusual distinction of rarity; the parades are said to be the only occasions when two 600 long-roof Landaulets were seen in the same place at the same time. The Supreme Leader in 2015 updated to the new S600 Pullman Landaulets but they’re mass-produced compared with the original, lack gravitas and look something like a very big Hyundai (made in the "puppet state" of South Korea (the RoK (Republic of Korea)). For this reason, the old 600s are retained for occasions when there’s a need really to impress folks and maintain the dynasty’s image of continuity which stretches back to the Great Leader.
The unique SWB 600 Landaulet built for Count Graf von Berckheim.
Mercedes-Benz however built the 600 on a special assembly line and accommodated many customer requests for special features or unusual configurations (although despite it being possible, none ever appear to have been ordered with the legendarily robust MB-Tex (a high quality vinyl) as interior trim, 600 buyers opting always for the customary leather or mohair (sometimes a combination of the two, following the English tradition of "leather for the chauffeurs, cloth for the passengers"). Given all that, it may be there were 600s which were identically configured but it can't have been many and one genuine one-off was a landaulet built on the SWB (short wheelbase) platform for racing driver Graf von Berckheim (Count Graf Philipp-Constantin Eduard Siegmund Clemens Tassilo Tobias von Berckheim, 1924-1984).
Standard and Spezial coachwork on the Mercedes-Benz 300d (W189, 1957-1962). The "standard" four-door hardtop was available throughout the run while the four-door Cabriolet D was offered (off and on) between 1958-1962 and the Spezials (landaulets, high-roofs etc), most of which were for state or diplomatic use, were made on a separate assembly line in 1960-1961. The standard greenhouse cars are to the left, those with the high roof-line to the right.
The 300d (W189, 1957-1962) was a revised version of the W186 (300, 300b & 300c; 1951-1957) which came to be referred to as the "Adenauer" because several were used as state cars by Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967; chancellor of the FRG (Federal Republic of Germany, the old West Germany) 1949-1963). Although the coachwork never exactly embraced the lines of mid-century modernism, the integration of the lines of the 1950s with the pre-war motifs appealed to the target market (commerce, diplomacy and the old & rich) and on the platform the factory built various Spezials including long wheelbase pullmans , landaulets, high-roof limousines and four-door cabriolets (Cabriolet D in the Daimler-Benz system). The high roofline appeared sometimes on both the closed & open cars and even then, years before the assassination of John Kennedy (JFK, 1917–1963; US president 1961-1963), the greenhouse sometimes featured “bullet-proof” glass. As well as Chancellor Adenauer, the 300d is remembered also as the "Popemobile" (although not then labelled as such) of John XXIII (1881-1963; pope 1958-1963).
Clockwise from top left:
300d (W189) papal throne, 300d (W189), 600 (W100), 300SEL (W109), S500 (W140),
300GD (W460), G500 (W463), ML500 (W166). Just about everybody quickly dubbed the new cars "popemobiles".
The factory for decades provided the Vatican with papal landaulets, used in parades and sometimes they travelled with popes to foreign lands. After the assassination attempt on John Paul II (1920–2005; pope 1978-2005), the concept was refined, the convertible top replaced with bullet-resistant clear panels and popes now less frequently appear in open-top cars. The 1965 Papal 600 Landaulet was built for Paul VI (1897-1978; pope 1963-1978) and used the higher roof-line which was a feature of some of the Spezial Pullmans ordered as "state cars". The attractions of the high-roof coachwork included (1) greater headroom which afforded more convenient ingress & egress (a practical matter given the cars were sometime parade vehicles used by royalty and military dictators, both classes given to wearing crowns or big hats) and (2) the extended greenhouse made it easier for crowds (anxious for a wave) to see the occupants.
Lincoln Continental X-100
X-100 unprotected and with an array of some of the roof accessories which enabled it to be configured as a four-door convertible, landaulet or town car.
The 1961 Lincoln Continental (Secret Service code SS-100-X but used as X-100) in which President
John Kennedy (JFK, 1917–1963; US president 1961-1963) was assassinated could be configured as (1) a four-door convertible, (2)
a landaulet with a top attached above the driver’s compartment or (3) a town car (the combination of an open driver's cockpit and open passenger compartment, also known various as a coupé de ville and sedanca de ville). It was sometimes also used with a protective
Perspex shield for the rear compartment but, infamously, this wasn’t used on
the day of the assignation. After the
events in Dallas it was modified to include much more protective equipment and
returned to the Secret Service’s White House fleet where it remained in service until 1976, something which seems to disturb (apparently more sensitive) later generations. There is a persistent myth the fitting of Perspex screens to state limousines began after JFK's assassination but it long predated that event, dignitaries liking to be protected from the elements as well as bullets. Coincidentally (presumably), Lincoln's companion division, Mercury, in 1969-1970, sold a version of its full-sized Marauder two-door hardtop as the X-100, nominally a high-performance model but actually using an un-modified (360 horsepower) 429 cubic inch (7.0 litre) version of the corporate 385-series V8. Essentially, the X-100 was an attempt to be in 1965 what the "letter series" Chrysler 300s had been between 1955-1965 but the moment had passed and the days of the "banker's hot-rods" were done. The X-100 was never replaced.
Landaulettes of the Royal Mews and beyond
Top: The State Landau carriage, built in 1902 by Messrs Hooper for Edward VII (1841–1910; King of the UK & Emperor of India 1901-1910). Bottom: Wedding processions of the Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer (1961-1997), 29 July 1981 (left), Prince Andrew (b 1960) to Sarah Ferguson B 1959), 23 July 1986 (centre) and Prince William (b 1982) to Catherine Middleton (b 1982), 29 April 2011.
The 1902 State Landau was first used by Edward VII for his coronation procession through London on 9 August 1902 and it has made frequent appearances since. Solidly built and well-maintained, it has lasted well, unlike the marriages of some of the royal couples who have sat in it to and from the church where they promised state and God to remain together till death do them part. Clearly not superstitious, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge choose the 1902 Landau although Prince Harry (b 1984) and Meghan Markle (b 1981) decided not to risk the curse, riding instead in one of the five Ascot landaus in the Royal Mews.
Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022; Queen of England the UK and other places, 1952-2022) and her consort Prince Philip (1921-2021) in 1954 Rolls-Royce Phantom IV State Landaulette by Hooper (Chassis 4BP5, Body 9941, Design 8399).
A bespoke creation produced exclusively for heads of state and crowned royalty (the "crowned" bit an important status symbol in royal circles) and never offered for sale to the public (a distinction shared only with the
Mercedes-Benz 770K (W150; 88 made 1939-1943) and the Bugatti Royale (7 made,
1927-1933), Rolls-Royce between 1950-1958 made only 18 Phantom IVs, one of
which was a ute (a light pickup truck!) used by the factory until it was scrapped. The Phantom IV's other footnote in Rolls-Royce history is it was their first and last passenger car powered by a straight-8 engine.
Twenty
years after: Elizabeth II & Prince Philip in Mercedes-Benz 600 Landaulet,
Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, state visit, June 1965. This is a four-door "presidential"
version with the vis-à-vis seating.
Although
there is no known record of her thoughts on the matter, probably no individual
ever had a more varied experience of landaulettes than Elizabeth II, her
earliest exposure to the type coming during the 1930s and even before assuming
the throne in 1952 she’s been driven in models built Daimler, Austin and Humber. Landaulettes had a long associate with the
Royal Mews, Edward VII (1841–1910; King of the UK & Emperor of India
1901-1910) in 1905 accepting delivery of a Renalut 14/20 Landaulette, the
cross-channel purchase a nod not only to the lead the French automobile industry
enjoyed early in the century but also to the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale
(1904) the king had nudged his not always enthusiastic ministers towards.
1960 Rolls
Royce Phantom V State Landaulette.
Originally allocated to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (1900-2002), in
her will it was left to the Prince of Wales (now Charles III (b 1948; King of
the United Kingdom since 2022)) and the unusually protuberant folding top was
added to accommodate the hats worn by the Duchess of Cornwall (formerly Kate
Middleton (b 1982), a young lady taller than most previous passengers.
The Royal Mews is the palace’s garage, the
name from the royal stables at Charing Cross and the plural of mew (moulting
(of falcons); falcon cage). Mew
was from the Middle English mewe, mue
& mwe, from the Anglo-Norman mue & muwe and the Middle French mue
(shedding feathers; cage for moulting birds; prison), from muer (to moult). In falconry,
it was the place where birds of prey were housed and, based on the visual similarity
(at a larger scale), the word came to be used of the alleyways with stables on
either side. When cars (a clipping of "carriage") were introduced
to the royal household, some of the stables were re-configured as garages but
the name was never changed. During her
reign, the queen had several Rolls-Royce landaulettes, the company gaining the
royal warrant in the 1950s, supplanting Daimler which had for decades supplied
the fleet, the change reputedly at the instigation of the palace courtiers who
didn’t approve of Daimler’s chairman (Sir Bernard Docker (1896–1978)) marriage
to Norah (Lady Docker, formerly Callingham, formerly Collins, née
Turner; 1906–1983) a dance-club hostess who was thrice-married, each husband
proving more lucrative than the last. It’s
said the gentlemen at the palace found her “a bit common” and in their circle, that's about as bad as it gets.
Cadillac (left),
Imperial (centre) & Lincoln (right) landaulettes built for the 1959 Royal
Tour of Canada.
As well as the various
British-built landaulettes, Elizabeth II had the chance to compare them with
those from France, Germany and the US and it was during the 1959 royal tour of the
Dominion of Canada a probably unique opportunity arose to C&C (compare
& contrast) the products of GM (General Motors), Ford & Chrysler, the Canadian
Government ordering from them respectively a Cadillac, Lincoln & Imperial
landaulette. That not only meant there could be no suggestion of corporate favouritism but also ensured the busy schedule
of parades ran like clockwork, the RCAF’s (Royal Canadian Air Force) Transport
Command using its Fairchild
C-119 Flying Boxcars to air-freight the machines between appointments, the royal
couple proceeding usually by rail or boat.
In 1956 a well-executed boardroom coup saw the defenestration of Sir Bernard and Lady Docker meaning Daimler again became respectable and over the decades a number of Daimlers appeared in the Royal Mews including several DS420s and some of those based on the Jaguar XJs. None of the Daimlers were however landaulettes. Vanden Plas made only two Daimler DS420 Landaulets
but many have been converted by coach-builders (and some folk less skilled), the
results said to be variable. Many of the
converted landaulets were used in the wedding trade, there presumably being
genuine advantages for brides with big hair willing to take a risk with the wind and rain. The DS420 was in production between 1968-1992 and used the platform of the big Jaguar Mark X (1961-1970; in 1966 slightly revised and re-named 420G), the sales of which had never met expectations, failing in the home market because it was just too big and in the US because the factory chose to use 3.8 & 4.2 litre versions of the XK-Six as the powerplant rather than the 4.6 litre Daimler V8. The underpinnings of the Mark X (the unitary construction, all-independent suspension and four-wheel disk brakes) were generations ahead of the US competition but the XK-Six was underpowered and lacked the torque required in what was a heavy machine though a 5.5 litre V8 version (the Daimler unit could have been enlarged) with a well-integrated A-C system would likely have been a great success in the US. However disappointing the Mark X might have been, the long and lucrative career of the DS420 meant that eventually, the platform proved one of Jaguar's most enduringly profitable.
Landau irons and the Ford Thunderbird Landaus, 1967-1971
Cadillac Hearse based on 1987 Cadillac Brougham (used in the Lindsay Lohan film Machete (2010), left), 1964 Alvis TE21 DHC (drophead coupé) by Park Ward (centre) and 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet C by Sindelfingen (right).
The landau irons (which some coach-builders insist should be called “carriage bars”) on the a roof's rear side-panels emulate in style (though not function) those used on horse-drawn carriages and early automobiles (the last probably the 1962 Mercedes-Benz 300 Cabriolet D). On those vehicles, the irons actually supported the folding mechanism but as a decorative device they proved useful on those hearses not fitted with rear side-windows, existing to relieve the slab-sidedness of the expanse of flat metal. A similar large surface sometimes existed on the bigger convertibles which had neither landau irons or side-windows in their soft-tops, illustrated by the bulk of the fabric on the soft-top of the Alvis TE21 (above, centre). The look divides opinion, pleasing some but not all.
1969 Ford Thunderbird Landau Coupe (429).
In what was a case study of supply responding to demand, the Ford Thunderbird which in 1955 had debuted as a two-seat convertible, was re-designed for 1958 as a four-seater, sales immediately rising. Having already made the correct decision in 1955 to position the T-bird as a “personal car” rather than a sports-car and being rewarded with something which outsold the Chevrolet Corvette more than twenty-fold, it was obvious to rely on what doubtlessly still is the biggest “big-data” metric of all: what people are prepared to pay for. Thus the T-bird continued successfully until 1966 as a four-seat coupé and convertible. By 1967 however, Ford needed to consider not just the competing products of other manufacturers but also the corporation’s own proliferating range, the wildly successful Mustang and its new, up-market derivative, the Mercury Cougar, both of which (and not just at the margins) overlapped the T-bird’s lucrative niche. Additionally, Lincoln had released a two-door version of the Continental so the T-bird needed somehow to appeal to those considering competitor vehicles yet try to avoid cannibalizing sales within the corporation.
1967 Ford Thunderbird Landau Sedan (428).
Thus for the fifth generation Thunderbird (1967-1971), the convertible was gone (not to return until the one-off retro-car of 2002-2005) and the two flavors of coupé were joined by a four-door sedan, "suicide" (ie the rear units rear-hinged) doors used not just as a novelty but because, as had been the case with the 1961 Lincoln, the wheelbase was just a little too short comfortably to accommodate conventional hinging. With Lincoln’s four-door convertible in its last days because of declining sales, no such T-bird had been contemplated but quite how sincere Ford was in trying not to impinge on Mercury and Lincoln attracted attention even at the time. The 1967 Thunderbird was the most expensive car on Ford’s list, attracting buyers who ticked much on the option list and they tended to leave the showroom costing much more than any other Ford or Mercury, the most expensive, the four-door Landau Sedan, sitting within a few hundred dollars of an entry-level Lincoln.
The much admired “wrap-around” rear compartment: 1971 Ford Thunderbird Landau Coupé (429).
By 1967, the US industry had long come to regard words like “landau” and “brougham”, once technical terms from coach-building, as just handy marketing terms, a brougham now something with more gorp and a landau, usually a car distinguished often by sometimes oddly-shaped windows added to the C-panel and the increasingly bizarre ways in which vinyl would be glued to the roof and Ford wasn’t alone in adding fake “landau irons” (sometimes called “landau bars”) to cement the association. Actually last used as a functional device for a convertible top in 1962 on the Mercedes 300d Cabriolet D (w189), they’d come to be adopted as a decorative flourish on C-pillars, thought to impart some link with the big cabriolets of the 1930s with which they were associated. On the two-door T-bird Landaus, that’s how they were used but on the four-door, they gained a new functionally: Disguising unfortunate styling.
1967 Ford Thunderbird sedan: it’s a strange look without the vinyl roof and would be more bizarre still without fake landau irons.
On the two-door Thunderbirds the irons were just gorp but the sedan was built on a relatively short wheelbase combined with a large "formal" C-Pillar so the only way to make the door opening wide enough to be functional was use the “suicide” configuration and integrate some of the structure into the C-Pillar. To conceal what would otherwise have been obviously extraneous metal if painted: (1) a vinyl roof was glued on (covering also the affected part of the door) and (2) the curve of the landau bars formed an extension of the trim-line (roof guttering). As a visual device it worked, making the four-door Thunderbird (1967-1971) the only car ever improved by the addition of the otherwise ghastly vinyl roof although it works best in a black-on-black combination, further disguising things. Ford’s aesthetic trickery was clever but didn’t much help in the showroom, the four-door remaining a slow seller.
The one millionth Thunderbird.
When the
Thunderbird’s sixth generation (1972-1976) debuted the four-door version was
dropped and, reflecting industry trends, the convertible did not return to the
line. The sixth generation was far
removed from the svelte original of 1955 but as a piece of production-line
economics it was a triumph of cost-accounting, sharing a platform and most
components with the more expensive Lincoln Continental Mark IV, the pair for
all their existence a profitable line although because all the Lincolns and most
of the Thunderbirds were powered by the 460 cubic inch (7.5 litre) V8, sales
were affected by the mid-life blip of the fuel crisis (1973-1974); the 460 had
the virtues of being smooth, torquey and reliable but was notoriously
thirsty. One feature carried over for
1972 was the pair of fake landau irons but optional in their place in 1973 and
standard thereafter was the new fashion: the opera window (for Lincoln an oval,
for the Ford a trapezoid with the back edge running in parallel with the rake
of the rear careen). Smaller than the
functional portholes first seen on the 1956 Thunderbirds, it was a trend which
took an unconscionable time a-dying. The
car pictured is the “one-millionth Thunderbird” to leave Ford’s assembly line,
finished appropriately in a specially-mixed shade of gold over white leather,
the landau irons further embellished by commemorative medallions (a third
affixed to the dashboard). Ford made
57,814 Thunderbirds in 1972 so they were never a rarity but the gold car is, in
a sense, “one in a million” and that year’s model does have some allure, it
being the last use of the more powerful, high compression 460 and in 1973 would
appear the dreaded “battering ram” bumpers.
In an on-line auction in 2025, the car sold for US$22,500, which was
above-average but not a record for the sixth generation.
By the late
1970s the “landau” vinyl roof had so infiltrated the US industry that it appeared at most price points and, unlike the fake landau irons which tended to be attached only to more expensive models, the opera window were kind of a "package deal": a pair "free with every landau roof". Often the word appeared somewhere in the designation and Cadillac was never afraid of long
model names but even it had to draw the line somewhere. In 1978 the catalogue included the Cadillac
Eldorado Cabriolet Astroroof and Cadillac Eldorado Custom Biarritz Classic
Astroroof but even though both included a vinyl roof in approved “landau style”,
the “landau” name was never appended.
Use of “cabriolet” was a bit of a stretch given no 1978 Eldorado ever
resembled one but by then, in Detroit, most of the historic terms from
coach-building were long removed from their origins and used at whim.
1962 Pontiac Catalina convertible with Riveria "Esquire" Series 300 hard-top. Note the fake landau irons. Although for three seasons in the 1950s Ford had offered a full-size convertible with a retractable hard-top (a masterpiece ensemble of electric motors, relays and literally miles of wiring), no other manufacturer has since attempted such a venture. Despite that warning from the industry, at least one aftermarket supplier thought there might be demand for something large and detachable. Riveria Inc, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, offered them between 1963-1964 for the big (then called full or standard-size) General Motors (GM) convertibles and such was GM’s production-line standardization, the entire range of models (spread over three years and five divisions (Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac & Chevrolet), could be covered by just three variations (in length) of hard-top. Made from fibreglass with an external texture which emulated leather, weight was a reasonable 80 lb (30 kg) but the sheer size rendered them unmanageable for many and not all had storage for such a bulky item, the growth of the American automobile meaning garages accommodative but a few years earlier were now cramped.
1962 Chevrolet Impala SS (Super Sport) convertible with Riveria "Esquire" Series 100 hard top.
Riveria offered their basic (100 series) hard-top in black or white, a more elaborately textured model (200 series) finished in gold or silver while the top of the range (300 series) used the same finishes but with simulated landau irons. No modification was required to the car, the roof attaching to the standard convertible clamps, the soft-top remaining retracted. Prices started at US$295 and the company seems to have attempted to interest GM's dealers in offering the hard-tops as a dealer-fitter accessory but corporate interest must have been as muted as buyer response, Riveria ceasing operations in 1964.
1935 MG NB Magnette “Faux Cabriolet” on Triple-M chassis (chassis number NA0801). The body is believed the work of an unknown Irish coach-builder.
Lest it be thought Riveria & Ford adding fake landau bars to their roofs was typical American vulgarity, across the Atlantic, their use as a decorative accouterment was not unknown. Most of the 738 MG N-type Magnettes (1934-1936) were bodied as roadsters or DHCs (drop head coupé, a style understood in Europe as a cabriolet and in the US as a convertible) and while coach-builders like Carbodies and Allingham did a few with enclosed bodywork, chassis NA0801 is the only known “Faux Cabriolet” and it would be more rapid than many because the 1271 cm3 (78 cubic inch) SOHC (single overhead camshaft) straight-six has been fitted with a side-mounted Marshall 87 supercharger. While the combination of that many cylinders and a small displacement sounds curious, the configuration was something of an English tradition and a product of (1) a taxation system based on cylinder bore and (2) the attractive economies of scale and production line rationalization of “adding two cylinders” to existing four-cylinder units to achieve greater, smoother power with the additional benefit of retaining the same tax-rate. Even after the taxation system was changed, some small-capacity sixes were developed as out-growths of fours. Despite the additional length of the engine block, many N-type Magnettes were among the few front-engined cars to include a “frunk” (a front trunk (boot)), a small storage compartment which sat between cowl (scuttle) and engine.
1935 MG NB Magnette “Faux Cabriolet”.
The elegantly scalloped shape of the front seats' squabs appeared also in the early (3.8 litre version; 1961-1964) Jaguar E-Types (1961-1974) but, attractive as they were, few complained when they were replaced by a more prosaic but also more accommodating design. The lengths of rope fitted just behind the door frames were for years these were known as “assist straps”, there to aid those exiting and while not needed by the young or still agile, were a help to many. When implemented as a rigid fitting, they were known (unambiguously) as “grab handles” but in the US in the 1970s they were sometimes advertised as “Lavaliere straps”. Lavaliere was a term from jewellery design which described a pendant (typically with a single stone) suspended from a necklace, the style named after Françoise-Louise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess of La Vallière and Vaujours (1644–1710) who was, between 1661-1667 (a reasonable run in such a profession), the mistress of Louis XIV (1638–1715; le Roi Soleil (the Sun King), King of France 1643-1715). It’s said the adaptation of her name for the pendants was based on the frequency with which the accessories appeared in her many portraits.
