Helius, the sun-god, assured Phaethon that he was truly his father and swore an oath that his son could have anthing he desired. Phaethon asked that he be allowed to drive his father's chariot across the sky. Helius could not dissuade the boy, and Phaethon could not control the horses and drove to his death. A phaeton has come into English as a four-wheeled chariot drawn by two horses or an earlier type of convertible automobile.

It is a sleekly styled car, usually having two doors, with a convertible top.It generally refers to the convertibles built in the 1930's and earlier. The four-seater was known as a double phaeton and the six- or seven- seater a triple phaeton.

The phaeton term was often applied to convertibles built in the1930's and earlier. A phaeton is a sleekly styled car (usually 2-door) with a convertible top. The conventional body has 4 doors with convertible top and side curtains rather than roll-up windows. The four-seater was called a double phaeton, and the six- or seven- seater a triple phaeton.

large open car seating four with folding top

a car body style in which the passengers sit in one to three rows of open seats

a popular vehicle for those couples who require an open air car with a convertible roof

A four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage, usually with two seats. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth promises her Aunt a trip round the Pemberley estate in a phaeton and pair.

A vintage automobile with two cross seats, usually four doors, and a folding top.

the Regency version of a sports car, a light, fast, fashionable four-wheeled carriage for one or two horses, usually driven by the owner rather than a coachman.

(formerly used with a carriage-horse), this is named after the sun God's son and charioteer Phaethon. Database visitor, Harry Tresoor, added that said Phaethon was known to ride around recklessly in his chariot! The first "phaeton" appeared London in 1742; it was a four-wheeled, open pleasure-carriage, usually fitted with seats that faced forward. According to Gentile, another term for a "touring car"; he suggests that sometimes Phaeton is used to describe a deluxe or fancy touring car. Frequently seen as double phaeton, it became a triple-phaeton when it was fitted with three rows of seats [see also Roi des Belges]; this coach style is known as a 4-wheel chaise in U.S. [example seen Ford Museum, Dearborn, 9/94

a four-door open car (convertible). Most true phaetons had vanished by the late '30's, but as late as the '60's, a few models that roughly qualify for the term were briefly re-introduced by Lincoln. (Compare to cabriolet.) Photo

Any of the various high, four-wheeled, graceful open carriages; also a type of touring car. The more fragile appearing spider phaeton often featured a rumble seat for coachman.

Refers to an open vehicle. Apparently comes from the open chariot Phaethon that the son of the Greek sun god Helios drove.

an early word for an open car especially used in the term double phaeton, which was a four-or-five-seater tourer. One with three rows of seats was a triple phaeton.

Phaeton is the fanciful early 19th-century term for a sporty carriage drawn by a single horse or a pair, with extravagantly large wheels, very lightly sprung, with a minimal body, fast and dangerous (illustration, right). The rather self-consciously classicizing name refers to the disastrous ride of mythical Phaëton.

Phaeton (or Phaëton, less often Phaethon) is the name of a hypothetical planet posited to once have existed between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter whose destruction supposedly led to the formation of asteroid belt. In Greek mythology, Phaëton, the son of the sun god Helios, attempted to drive his father's solar chariot for a day with disastrous results and was destroyed by Zeus.