The Landau began as a carriage design with a folding fabric top consisting of two sections supported by external elliptical springs. This landau roof design was adopted in early automobiles as a convertible top. The term, however, came to mean a simulated convertible. A landau bar is an ornamental feature located on a car's c-pillar derived from the roof form, primarily used on hearses.

A hearse is a large vehicle, originally a horse carriage but later with the introduction of motor vehicles, a car, used to carry the body of a deceased person in a coffin at a funeral, wake, or memorial service. They range from deliberately anonymous vehicles to heavily decorated vehicles.