Abrougham (/ˈbruːm,ˈbruːəm,ˈbroʊm,ˈbroʊəm/) was originally acar body style where the driver sat outside and passengers seated within an enclosed cabin,[1] — deriving the configuration from the earlierbrougham horse-drawn carriage. Similar in style to the latertown car, the brougham style was used on chauffeur-driven petrol and electric cars.
In later years, several manufacturers (mostly in the United States) have used the term brougham as a prestigiousmodel name or luxurioustrim level on cars where the driver is in the cabin with the passengers (i.e. cars that do not use the brougham body style).
As acar body style, a brougham was initially a vehicle similar to alimousine but with an outside seat in front for thechauffeur and an enclosed cabin behind for the passengers.[2] As such, it was a version of thetown car but, in its earliest incarnation, with the sharply squared rear end of the roof and the forward-curving body line at the base of the front of the passenger enclosure that was characteristic of the nineteenth-century brougham carriage on which the car style was based.[3]
In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the brougham body style with an outside chauffeur was popular with electric cars. At that time, there were more than 200 manufacturers of these cars in the United States.[4] In the United States during the first two decades of the twentieth century, the front of the body and the chauffeur were often deleted from the design, with controls placed inside for the owner to operate the vehicle.[5][6] Despite the resultingcoupé style, the result was still called a "brougham",[5] causing the term to be applied to a two-door closed vehicle similar to a coupé, especially one electrically driven.[7]
Cadillac was the first to use the name "Brougham" on a vehicle that did not use the Brougham body style for the 1916Cadillac Brougham, a large 7-seatsedan. Since then, the term has shifted from its original meaning and been used as a model name by one manufacturer, atrim level by various (being applied to sedans and evenconvertibles).[8]
Of particular note, "Brougham" was widely used from the 1970s to the 1990s byGeneral Motors,Ford Motor Company, and theChrysler Corporation, typically for the upper trim level of a particular model.[citation needed]
Limousine—A closed car seating three to five inside, with driver's seat outside, covered with a roof... Brougham—A limousine with no roof over the driver's seat.
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