Coachbuilder

A coachbuilder is a manufacturer of bodies for carriages or automobiles. Initially, the skills used to build the wooden and metal bodies of vehicles was so specialized that most manufacturers procured contracts with existing coachbuilders to produce bodies for their chassis. For example, Fisher Body built all of Cadillac's closed bodies in the 1910s.

The advent of unibody construction made custom coachbuilding impossible. Many coachbuilders were purchased by automobile manufacturers and merged with their vehicle operations. Others became contract vehicle assemblers, building niche or localized cars for larger companies. As coach (and automobile) manufacturers brought body building skills in-house, the practice of custom coachbuilding gained favor among the rich. Some ultra-luxury vehicles sold as chassis only. Examples include the Bugatti Type 57, Cadillac V-16, Ferrari 250, and all Rolls-Royces produced before World War II. Many coachbuilders became associated with famed designers, such as Pininfarina and Giugiaro.

The trade dates back several centuries. Rippon was active in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Barker founded in 1710 by an officer in Queen Anne's Guards, Brewster a relative newcomer (though oldest in the U.S.), formed in 1810. Others included Hooper, H. J. Mulliner & Co., Park Ward, Gurney Nutting, and James Young. In France, they were led by Binder, Figoni et Falaschi, Chapron, Kellner, Labourdette, Letourneur et Marchand, and later Hibbard & Darrin (formed by Americans). Germany's top firms were Erdmann & Rossi, Gläser, Karmann, Hebmüller, Neuss, and Papler. Italy had firms such as Pininfarina, Bertone, Frua, Castagna, Ghia, Allemano, Scaglietti, Marazzi, Boneschi, Fissore, Alessio (of Turin, responsible for the first eight FIATs built) Zagato, Vignale, and Touring. The U.S. featured Brewster & Co., Brunn, Fleetwood, LeBaron, Murphy, Derham, Locke, Rollston and Willoughby. The best known coachbuilder from Holland was Pennock, but there were also Veth & Zn. and Van Rijswijk.

In the early motoring days, when series production did not yet exist, the process of acquiring a new vehicle was more complex. A customer approached a chassis motoring brand, who used to deliver to the customer only the rolling chassis, comprising: chassis, drivetrain (engine, gearbox, differential, axles, wheels), suspension, steering system and the radiator. Noticeable fact is that the radiator was the only visual element identifying the rolling chassis brand. Subsequently the customer approached a coachbuilder, requesting a personal body design to be fitted on the purchased rolling chassis. Initially, the skills used to build the wooden and metal bodies of vehicles was so specialized, (such as the English wheel), that most manufacturers procured contracts with existing coachbuilders to produce bodies for their chassis. For example, Fisher Body built all of Cadillac's closed bodies in the 1910s.

As coach (and automobile) manufacturers brought body building skills in-house, the practice of custom coachbuilding gained favor among the rich. Some ultra-luxury vehicles sold as chassis only. For instance, when Duesenberg introduced their Model J, it was offered as chassis only, for $8,500. Other examples include the Bugatti Type 57, Cadillac V-16, Ferrari 250, Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8 and all Rolls-Royces produced before World War II. Delahaye had no in-house coachworks, so all its chassis were bodied by independents, who created some of their most attractive designs on the Type 135. Most of the Delahayes were bodied by Chapron, Labourdette, Franay, Saoutchik, Figoni & Falaschi, Pennock and many more.

The advent of unibody construction, where the car body is unified with, and structurally integral to the chassis, made custom coachbuilding (in the traditional sense of putting a bespoke body on a factory supplied separate chassis) practically impossible. Many coachbuilders went bankrupt, were bought by manufacturers or changed their core business to other activities:
 * transforming into dedicated design / styling houses, subcontracting to automotive brands (e.g. Zagato, Frua, Bertone, Pininfarina).
 * and/or transforming into general coachwork series manufacturer, subcontracting to automotive brands (e.g. Karmann, Bertone, Vignale, Pininfarina).
 * manufacturing of special coachworks for trucks, delivery vans, touringcars, ambulances, ‘voitures des pompiers’ (fire brigade), public transport vehicles, etc (e.g. Pennock, Veth &Zn, Akkermans, Heuliez).
 * becoming technical partner for development of e.g. roof constructions (e.g. Karmann, Heuliez) or producer of various (aftermarket) automotive parts.

Coachbuilding survives among low-production companies such as Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Bentley and Corvette because of its low cost for a short run. Producing body dies is extremely expensive (a single door can run US$40000), which is only practical when large numbers are involved.

Coachbuilders often used native translations: carrozzeria in Italian and Karosserie in German.

In reference to a recreational vehicle or motorhome, coach-built means a vehicle which has been purpose-built, using only a chassis as a base vehicle, as opposed to a conversion which is built inside an existing vehicle body.