Vis-a-vis
_S-Bahn_Mitteldeutschland_03.JPG)
_photo_4.jpg)
A vis-à-vis is a carriage with seats or bench seats opposite. This seating arrangement is found on carriages , railroad cars, and (mainly early) automobiles . The term comes from French and literally means "face to face". In the German-speaking world, the term was also used for "opposite".
Carriages
The vis-à-vis carriage is very similar to a Landau due to the seating arrangement , but it cannot be closed as weatherproof as a Landau. The top of a Vis-à-vis only provides protection from light rain or strong sun. The Vis-à-Vis was more of a summer car for gentlemen. Due to the lack of doors and the heavy roof superstructures, however, it was correspondingly lighter and therefore better suited for long distances or faster driving than the Landau, which is comparable in terms of comfort.
Automobiles
This body shape was rarely used in automobiles after 1902, as more and more automobile manufacturers switched to the front engine. As a result, four-seat cars initially had the Tonneau body shape . From this the double phaeton developed . In cars with Pullman bodies and in stretch limousines , vis-à-vis is still used today.
In city buses , too , individual seating groups are usually grouped face-to-face; the most common are groups with two seats on each side. In some buses there is also a face-to-face grouping in the rear of the vehicle, with several seats orthogonal to the direction of travel.
railroad
In passenger coaches, facing is a frequently used seating arrangement. In the case of compartment cars , benches or individual seats are arranged opposite one another; in open -plan cars, face-to-face seating groups are usually combined with seats arranged one behind the other in one direction. Some vehicles, such as the multiple units of the DB class 423 , only have face-to-face seating. A table can be located between the opposite seats, especially in the first class. In multi-purpose compartments there are often folding seats orthogonal to the direction of travel in a face-to-face arrangement; Even on the upper deck of double-decker cars , seats are sometimes arranged orthogonally opposite the direction of travel.
In trams, too, as in city buses, face-to-face is often used for individual seating groups, usually with a total of 4 seats.
