("King of the Belgians") or tulip phaeton was a

car body style There are many types of car body styles. They vary depending on intended use, market position, location, and the era they were made. Current styles Buggy (automobile), Buggy Lightweight off-road vehicle with sparse bodywork. Originally tw ...

used on luxury

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on railway track, rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such ...

s in the early 1900s. It was a double phaeton with exaggerated bulges "suggestive of a

tulip Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different colour ...

". The rear bulges accommodated two corner seats like tub armchairs which were accessed from the rear by a central door with a small fold-down seat. The Roi-des-Belges style began with a 1901 40 hp

Panhard et Levassor Panhard was a French motor vehicle manufacturer that began as one of the first makers of automobiles. It was a manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its final incarnation, now owned by Renault Trucks Defense, was formed ...

with a Rothschild body commissioned by

Leopold II of Belgium Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Leo ...

, '' Roi des Belges''. The style and the name ''Roi-des-Belges'' were used on many makes of the time, including

Mototri Contal The Mototri Contal was a French automobile manufactured from 1907 until 1908. More elaborate than most three-wheelers of its era, it featured Roi-des-Belges ("King of the Belgians") or tulip phaeton was a car body style used on luxury motor vehi ...

Packard Packard (formerly the Packard Motor Car Company) was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana, in 1958. One ...

Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost name refers both to a car model and one specific car from that series. Originally named the "Tax horsepower#Britain, 40/50 h.p." the chassis was first made at Royce's Manchester works, with production moving t ...

Spyker Spyker or Spijker was a Dutch carriage, automobile and aircraft manufacturer, started in 1880 by blacksmiths Jacobus and Hendrik-Jan Spijker. Originally located in Hilversum, the company relocated to Trompenburg, Amsterdam in 1898. Notable produ ...

, and

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

and by other

coachwork A coachbuilder manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles. The trade of producing coachwork began with bodies for horse-drawn vehicles. Today it includes custom automobiles, buses, motor coaches, and railway carriages. The word ...

builders.

Notes

References

External links

Roi-des-Belges body, 1907, unrestored.
Car body styles 1900s cars {{brass-auto-stub