Phaeton (carriage) Phaeton (carriage) A phaeton (also phaéton) was a form of sporty open carriage popular in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Drawn by one or two horses, a phaeton typically featured a minimal very lightly sprung body atop four extravagantly large wheels. With open seating, it was both fast and dangerous, giving rise to its name, drawn from the mythical Phaëton, son of Helios, who nearly set the earth on fire while attempting to drive the chariot of the sun. With the advent of the automobile, the term was adapted to open touring cars, also known as phaetons. The
HMS Phaeton (1782) 26 March 1828. "Phaeton" was commissioned in March 1782. Within a year she had been paid off. In December 1792 "Phaeton" was commissioned under Sir Andrew Snape Douglas. In March 1793 "Phaeton" captured the 4-gun privateer lugger "Aimable Liberté". Then on 14 April "Phaeton" sighted the French privateer "Général Dumourier" (or" Général Du Mourier"), of twenty-two 6-pounder guns and 196 men, and her Spanish prize, the "St Jago", 140 leagues to the west of Cape Finisterre. "Phaeton" was part of Admiral John Gell's squadron and the entire squadron set off in pursuit, but it was "Phaeton" that made the actual