The victoria is an elegant style of doorless four-wheeled open carriage, drawn by one or two horses, based on the phaeton with the addition of a coachman's seat at the front, and with a retractable roof over the passenger bench.
Named for Queen Victoria,[1] [2] it was possibly based on a phaeton made for George IV.[3] The type was made some time before 1844, but acquired the name victoria around 1860, and was being presented as such at the 1862 International Exhibition in London.[4] Drawn by one or two horses, it became a fashionable style of carriage for ladies riding in the park.[3]
The victoria has a low body with a forward-facing seat for two passengers under a retractable calash top and a raised driver's seat on an iron frame.[3] In the panel-boot type of victoria, sometimes confusingly called a cabriolet,[2] a box under the driver's seat provides storage, a "boot", and forms a dashboard.[3] In a Grand Victoria, a collapsible backwards-facing seat behind the driver accommodates additional passengers; the Victoria-Hansom was a later form of hansom cab based on the victoria.[2]
The Ford Crown Victoria takes its name from the carriage. It has been used as a generic term for light horse carriages in Mumbai.