Chrysler Phaeton dual cowl four-door hard-top convertible was inspired by Chrysler's dual cowl 1940 Newport parade car, a vehicle used primarily for transporting dignitaries and members of elite families during that time period. "With Phaeton, we expanded the use of today's convertible by giving it four doors and two windshields," said K. Neil Walling, Chrysler Corporation's Design Director. "We took an elegant design execution that was originally intended for the wealthy and created a practical, contemporary convertible." The dual cowl has expressive flowing lines, finely drawn details in the egg-crate grille, and a retractable rear compartment windshield. "Chrysler Phaeton effectively captures classic
Phaeton (carriage) attitude. She also references a phaeton in Agnes Grey, "the useful pony phaeton was sold." In the 1928 American children's book "Freddy Goes to Florida" (formerly published as "To and Again") by Walter R. Brooks, Hank the farm horse draws an old phaeton that carries the animals and their treasure back from Florida to the Bean Farm. In "Absalom, Absalom!" by William Faulkner, Sutpen's wife Ellen had a phaeton that caused her daughter to become greatly distressed when it arrived in place of their normal carriage. In the short story "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by F. Scott Fitzgerald,