Phaeton (carriage) The Keystone Cops drove phaetons, either Model Ts or Model As. In Frances Burney's novel, "Evelina" (1778), young gentlemen race their phaetons on the public highways of Clifton, near Bristol, not without incident. In Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", Mr Collins says of Lady Catherine De Bourgh's daughter, "she is perfectly amiable, and often condescends to drive by my humble abode in her little phaeton and ponies." In Anne Brontë's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" (1848), Mr. Huntingdon drives a "light phaeton" that comes "bowling merrily up the lawn" (Ch. 18). The sporty character of the carriage reflects Huntingdon's devil-may-care
Phaeton body rigid roof could be added before a drive in preparation for inclement weather, and side curtains or screens could be installed once the roof was in place. This was mainly temporary and partial relief rather than the more permanent, watertight protection offered by a convertible. As a result, a phaeton was much lighter than the sturdier, weather-ready convertible. Since the body was entirely open, it was easy to add or remove an extra row of seating where space had been left in the original construction. A phaeton differs from a convertible in having no winding or sliding windows in the