French coach for hire, named for the Hôtel Saint-Fiacre, in Paris, where it was introduced in the 1640s. The first fiacres were boxlike, four-wheeled, open, hooded vehicles that were drawn by three horses and were designed to navigate the muddy Parisian streets. In 1794 about 800 were in use in Paris, and by the 19th century there were more than 1,500. The 19th-century fiacre resembled the carriages for hire used in England and the United States that were known as hackneys.