A vis-à-vis is a carriage in which the passengers sit face to face with the front passengers facing rearward and the rear passengers facing forward. The term comes from the French vis-à-vis, meaning face to face.
These carriages are still commonly made by Amish carriage makers in the midwestern United States. Also in the Western world, the vis-a-vis is the most common type of carriage style used to cart tourists and leisure seekers in downtown urban settings.
Passengers sit back-to-back on dos-à-dos carriages.
Examples
The following types of carriage had vis-à-vis seating:
Automobiles
There were vis-à-vis automobiles in the early history of motoring. These were driven from the forward-facing rear seat, with front passengers sitting ahead of the steering controls and facing the driver. Passengers in the front seat would obstruct the vision of the driver in the rear seat, and the style fell out of favour before 1905.
See also
References
- ^ Haajanen, Lennart W. (2003). Illustrated Dictionary of Automobile Body Styles. Illustrations by Bertil Nydén; foreword by Karl Ludvigsen. Jefferson, NC USA: McFarland. p. 155. ISBN 0-7864-1276-3. LCCN 2002014546.
- ^ Beattie, Ian (1977). The Complete Book of Automobile Body Design. Yeovil, UK: The Haynes Publishing Group. ISBN 0854292179.
- Culshaw, David; Horrobin, Peter (2013) . "Appendix 5: Coachwork Styles". The Complete Catalogue of British Cars 1895 - 1975 (e-book ed.). Poundbury, Dorchester, UK: Veloce Publishing. pp. 480–484. ISBN 978-1-845845-83-4. |page=484
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