The town chariot, or coupé, as it was called in France, and indeed, at a later date in England, was being built lower than before, but otherwise remained unaltered. The high driving seat was still removed to transform the carriage into a post-chaise. Amusing instructions for buying a chariot are given by John Jervis, an old coachman, in the second volume of the Horse and Carriage Oracle, 1828. “The form of Carriages,” he opines, “is as absurdly at the Mercy of Fashion, as the Cut of a Coat is—however, if the Reader is willing to let the Builder please himself with the form of the Exterior, he will not be quite so polite as to submit the construction of the Interior entirely to the caprice of his Coachmaker.” Don’t, he advises, have too much stuffing inside: “The present fashion of Stuffing is preposterous, it reduces a Large Body to the size of a small One: however,” he adds obligingly, “if you like to ride about for the benefit of public inspection, as your friends, my Lady Look-out, the Widow Will-be-seen—and Sir Simon Stare, do, pray, study Geoffrey Gambado on the Art of sitting politely in Carriages, with the most becoming attitudes, &c., and choose wide Door Lights and full Squabbing;—if you wish to go about peaceably and quietly, like Sir Solomon Snug, and are contented with seeing without being seen, adopt the contracted Lights, and common Stuffing, which, among others, have this great advantage that when you sit back, you may have the side Window down, and a thorough Air passing through the Carriage, without it blowing directly in upon you: this, to Invalids who easily catch Cold, is very important.” The lining of the chariot, he recommends, should be “green, with Lace to correspond, and the Green silk Sun Shades of the same Colour,” green being pleasant to the eye. Venetian blinds, he says, are very nice in warm weather, and should be painted verdigris green on the inside and on the outside a colour which matches with that of the coach-body. Further instructions follow. You are advised never to permit officious strangers to shut your carriage door—a piece of sound advice which might well be followed to-day when seedy people expect a small tip for having watched you get into a cab—and if your coachman sees any one about to do so, he is to say “loudly and imperatively, ‘Don’t meddle with the Door!’”
The chief maker of these chariots was the celebrated Samuel Hobson, “who may be truly said to have improved and remodelled every sort of carriage, which came under his notice, especially as regards the artistic form and construction, both of body and carriage.” “Hobson’s Chariots,” indeed, were in a class by themselves. “He lowered the wheels of coaches and chariots,” says Thrupp, “to 3 ft. 3 in. in front and 4 ft. 5 in. behind, and lengthened the carriage part once more to such a true proportion to the whole vehicle as has approved itself as correct to each succeeding generation of Coachbuilders and users of carriages. He lowered the body, too, so that it could be entered by a moderate double step instead of the three-fold ladder previously in use.”
Barouche
With Ackerman’s Patent Movable Axles
Landaulet
With Patent Roof and Movable Axles
Mr. Jervis’s remarks about the coachmaker’s being allowed to choose the exterior of his customer’s carriage no doubt followed on the practice, mentioned by Bridges Adams, of building particular carriages upon a general chariot basis. Of these hybrids, perhaps the most popular was the Briska-chariot. The briska itself (more correctly the britzschka) had been introduced into England from Austria about 1818 by Mr. T. G. Adams, though Bridges Adams thinks that it was first brought here at a rather later date by the Earl of Clanwilliam, “who liked it for its lightness; for which reason it probably obtained, amongst coachmen and mechanics, the translated name Brisker or Brisky.” In England it was made in various sizes and with various modifications. A small one for one horse was “a light open carriage, fitted with a leathern top over the front inside seat; which top had a glazed front and sides, or glazed front and Venetian blinds to the sides.” Its chief characteristics were a small seat at the back of the main body and a straight bottom line to the body itself—this giving it “a ship-like and fast-going appearance.” Ten years after its introduction it was so immensely popular as to threaten every other carriage; nor was this altogether surprising, for in addition to being liked for the sake of its own lightness, it lent itself so well to every variety of purpose. And of these modified briskas, the briska-chariot was one of the most favoured. It was in particular demand with those travelling abroad, inasmuch as its great length enabled its passengers to lie at full length. Another variety, the droitzschka or drosky, was a modification of the Russian vehicle of that name. This was built low, an open perch carriage with a hood, used chiefly by “languid, aged, or nervous persons, and children.” The drosky seems to have given the idea to Mr. David Davies for his pilentum, which was very similar in appearance. This Mr. Davies is also supposed to have been the inventor of the popular cab-phaeton, a one-horse, low-hung carriage suspended on four elliptic springs. On the Continent this carriage became known as a milord, once most aristocratic, but by 1850 little better than a hack. It was somewhat similar in appearance to the victoria.
The phaeton was still made, but was being superseded by the briska. The main seat of the carriages, as in the old perch-high phaetons, was still over the front axle, but the body was now hung low on elliptic springs. Such a perchless carriage was called by Adams “the very simplest form of wheeled vehicle in ordinary use. It is literally a long box, with an arm-chair in front, and a bench behind.” And that is a remarkably good description. Here, too, as with the chariots, there were also various hybrids.
Landaulets were very popular in London, and were made in great quantities by the firm with which Obadiah Elliott himself was connected. A patent roof and Ackermann’s movable axles are shown in the accompanying illustration of this carriage.
