Coachbuilder in the context of Rolls-Royce Phantom V

A custom car is a passenger vehicle that has been altered to improve its performance, change its aesthetics, or combine both. Some automotive enthusiasts in the United States want to push "styling and performance a step beyond the showroom floor - to truly craft an automobile of one's own." A custom car in British usage, according to Collins English Dictionary, is built to the buyer's own specifications.

Custom cars are not to be confused with coachbuilt automobiles, historically rolling chassis fitted with luxury bodywork by specialty auto body builders.

Maranello (Modenese: Maranèl) is a city of Italy in the province of Modena, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, 18 km from Modena, with a population of 17,504 as of 2017. It is known worldwide as the home of Ferrari and the Formula One racing team, Scuderia Ferrari. Maranello was also home to coachbuilding firm Carrozzeria Scaglietti, owned by Ferrari.

VDL Bova was a luxury coachbuilder based in Eindhoven, in The Netherlands which began building coaches in 1931. In particular, it is well known for the Bova Futura, a streamlined coach usually powered by a DAF engine, which was first introduced in the 1980s and is still in production as of 2018 as the VDL Futura.

In 1878 Jacob D. Bots founded a timber business in Valkenswaard. When he died, he left the business to his eldest son Simon who first introduced the name Bova, which was derived from Bots Valkenswaard.

Body-on-frame (often referred to as "Full-Frame") is a traditional motor vehicle construction method whereby a separate body or coach is mounted on a strong and relatively rigid vehicle frame or chassis that carries the powertrain (the engine and drivetrain) and to which the wheels and their suspension, brakes, and steering are mounted. Whereas this was the original method of building automobiles, body-on-frame construction is now used mainly for pickup trucks, large SUVs, and heavy trucks.

In the late 19th century, the frames, like those of the carriages they replaced, might be made of wood (commonly ash), reinforced by steel flitch plates, but in the early 20th century, steel ladder frames or chassis rapidly became standard. Mass production of all-metal bodies began with the Budd Company and the Dodge Brothers. All-metal bodies became common in the 1920s, except for Europe, which followed almost a decade later. Europe's custom-made or "coachbuilt" cars usually contained some wood framing or used aluminium alloy castings. Towards the beginning of international automobile assembly and construction, most manufacturers created rolling chassis consisting of a powertrain, suspension, steering column and a fuel tank that was then sent to a coachbuilder that added the body, interior and upholstery to the customers specific requests.

David Brown Automotive is a British coachbuilder and manufacturer of limited production cars based in Silverstone, England. The company was founded in Coventry in 2013 by British businessman David Brown to create modern interpretations of classic vehicles. Its first model, the Speedback GT was launched in 2014. David Brown Automotive was placed into administration in November 2024. MB Insolvency appointed as administrators.

A rolling chassis is the fully-assembled chassis of a motor vehicle (car, truck, bus, or other vehicle) without its bodywork. It is equipped with running gear (engine and drivetrain) and ready for delivery to a coachbuilder to be completed. Historically, bespoke luxury automobiles were finished inside and out to an owner's specifications by a coachbuilder, and specialty vehicles (such as fire engines) were outfitted by firms devoted to that task.

The term is also used to describe the chassis and running gear of a vehicle in a body-off restoration.

Giovanni Battista Pininfarina (born Giovanni Battista Farina, nicknamed "Pinin"; 2 November 1893 – 3 April 1966) was an Italian automobile designer and the founder of the Carrozzeria Pininfarina coachbuilding company, a name associated with many well known postwar cars.

Van Hool NV ([vɑn ˈɦoːl]) was a Belgian coachbuilder and manufacturer of buses, coaches, trolleybuses, and trailers.

Most of the buses and coaches were built entirely by Van Hool, with engines and axles sourced from Caterpillar, Cummins, DAF and MAN and gearboxes from ZF or Voith. Some production involves building bus and coach bodies on separate bus chassis from manufacturers such as Volvo and Scania.

Carrozzeria Scaglietti (Italian pronunciation: [karrottseˈriːa skaʎˈʎetti]) was an Italian automobile design and coachbuilding company active in the 1950s. It was founded by Sergio Scaglietti in 1951 as an automobile repair concern, but was located across the road from the original Ferrari workshops Ferrari in Viale Trento Trieste Modena, Italy.

Scaglietti gained Enzo Ferrari's trust and respect both through his bodywork and design skills and for providing a retreat for young Dino Ferrari. Their professional relationship began when Ferrari asked Scaglietti to repair and modify race car bodywork in the late 1940s, which was soon followed by orders for full car bodies in the early 1950s. Scaglietti and Dino Ferrari designed a 166 MM, s/n 0050M, the first Ferrari to have a "headrest" bump. This feature was subsequently used on most racing Ferraris of the 1950s and 1960s. The idea was initially despised by Enzo but championed by Dino, and 0050M's design became an overall success. The car became a prototype for the Monza range.

A vehicle frame, also historically known as its chassis, is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism.

Until the 1930s, virtually every car had a structural frame separate from its body, known as body-on-frame construction. Both mass production of completed vehicles by a manufacturer using this method, epitomized by the Ford Model T, and supply of rolling chassis to coachbuilders for both mass production (as by Fisher Body in the United States) and to smaller firms (such as Hooper) for bespoke bodies and interiors was practiced.