Phaeton (carriage)

A phaeton is a light, sporty, open horse-drawn carriage popular from the late 18th through the early 19th century, built with a minimal, lightly sprung body set atop four unusually large wheels and typically drawn by one or two horses. Its name, first used in France around 1735 before spreading to England by 1747 and to America by the 1760s, comes from the mythological figure Phaethon, who recklessly drove the chariot of the sun, a reference chosen to evoke the carriage's reputation as a fast and somewhat risky vehicle usually driven by its own owner rather than a hired coachman. Numerous variants were built for park driving, for women drivers, and for formal occasions, and the phaeton name later carried over into the automobile age to describe open touring cars.