A cabriolet is a light, two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse, with a folding hood, seating two people facing forward, one of whom is the driver. It has a large rigid apron, gracefully upward-curving shafts, and usually a rear platform between the C springs for a groom. The design was developed in France in the early nineteenth century and quickly replaced the heavier hackney carriage as the vehicle for hire of choice in Paris and London.

The "cab" of taxi-cab or "hansom cab" is a shortening of "cabriolet". Other types of horse-drawn cab include:

• Araba or aroba: used in Turkey and neighboring countries
• Araña: Mexican, two-wheeled
• Bounder: four-wheeled
• Gharry or gharri: used especially in India
• Minibus: light carriage, usually with a rear door and seats for four passengers; formerly used as a cab
• Two-wheeler: two-wheeled cab or hansom

One who drives a horse-drawn cab for hire is called a cabdriver or jehu. A cab horse or cabber is used for drawing a cab.

See also

• Cabriolet (automobile)

References