A cabriolet is a light horse-drawn vehicle, with two wheels and a single

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

. The carriage has a folding hood that can cover its two occupants, one of whom is the driver. It has a large rigid apron, upward-curving shafts, and usually a rear platform between the C springs for a groom. The design was developed in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in the eighteenth century and quickly replaced the heavier

hackney carriage A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common s ...

as the

vehicle for hire A vehicle for hire is a vehicle providing private transport or shared transport for a fee, in which passengers are generally free to choose their points or approximate points of origin and destination, unlike public transport, and which th ...

of choice in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The ''cab'' of

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

- cab or "

hansom cab The hansom cab is a kind of horse-drawn carriage designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom, an architect from York. The vehicle was developed and tested by Hansom in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England. Originally called the Hansom safety ca ...

" is a shortening of ''cabriolet''. Other horse-drawn cabs include: *'' Araba'' or ''aroba'': used in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

and neighboring countries *''Araña'': Mexican, two-wheeled *''Bounder'': four-wheeled *''

Gharry A gharry or gharri is a horse-drawn cab used especially in India. A palkee gharry is shaped like a palanquin. A gharry driver is a gharry- wallah. See also * Carriage A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most c ...

'' or ''gharri'': used especially in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

*''

Kalesa A kalesa or calesa is a two-wheeled horse-drawn carriage used in the Philippines. It is commonly vividly painted and decorated. It was a primary mode of public and private transportation during the Spanish colonial era of the Philippines, though i ...

'' or ''calesa'' (sometimes called a ''karitela''): used in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

*''

Dorożka A droshky or drosky (russian: дрожки (plural); pl, dorożka (singular); et, troska (singular) ) is a term used for several types of carriage, including: * A low, four-wheeled open carriage used especially in Russia. It consists of a long be ...

in eastern Europe *''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 a ''cabdriver''.{{Cite web , url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/32/C0003200.html , title=Cabdriver. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. , access-date=2008-01-07 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050421142853/http://bartleby.com/61/32/C0003200.html , archive-date=2005-04-21 , url-status=dead

References

Carriages Animal-powered vehicles