The phaeton body style was one of the last vestiges of the automobile’s horse-drawn heritage.  These cars were generally light, handsomely styled, had four doors, and were less costly than their convertible sedan brethren.  One of the reasons for that lower cost is that while a convertible has roll-up windows, a phaeton relies on detachable side curtains to somewhat shield its occupants from the weather.  As the 1930s came to a close, this inexpensive yet undeniably handsome body style slowly faded from the market.  Perhaps the most stunningly beautiful of Ford’s thirties products were cars like this 1935 Ford phaeton for sale on Craigslist in Lathrop, California.  This well-restored open car is ready to drive and lacks nothing but a buyer at the $39,500 asking price.  Would you like to parade around in this prewar stunner?  Thanks go to numskal for yet another handsomely styled find!

The etymology of the word phaeton means a lightweight four-wheel carriage with an open top.  Going back further, Phaethon was the possibly illegitimate son of the Greek god Helios.  Helios had but one major task in Greek mythology: to pull the sun-chariot across the sky each day.  Eager to prove that Helios was his father, the boy begged his father to let him drive the chariot across the sky just once.  Helios relented, but the boy could not control the horses.  The chariot came too near the Earth and threatened to set the planet on fire.  Seeing this, Zeus hurled a lightning bolt that killed the boy and halted the disaster.

Thus the word phaeton carries with it a tremendous amount of symbolism.  Perhaps the most obvious is that these are cars for the sunshine.  These are very open cars, as you can see from the pictures of this 1935 Ford phaeton.  The ample top folds back and the metal top bows with wood overlays rest against the hooks that screw into the body at the far rear.  The leather straps on the hooks tie down the top bows and the whole assembly is covered with a boot.  For inclement weather, an intricate set of side curtains are pulled from a carrier and stanchions slide into individual holes in the door and body.  The side curtains are then slid over the stanchions and snapped to the body at the bottom.  Looking out of side curtains, which consist of a framework bordered with canvas, and a clear piece of flexible vinyl in the center, is challenging in clear weather.  Assembling a full set of curtains can take some time to do correctly once you get the hang of it.  The problem is that a sudden rain leaves you little time for such festivities.

The previously described hassle was one you put up with in the early days of the automobile because there were few other options.  As automobiles evolved, closed cars became more prevalent and affordable to the average family.  Open cars evolved as well, with roll-up windows replacing side curtains.  Roadsters and phaetons eventually gave way to convertible coupes, cabriolets, and, for a brief time, convertible sedans.  By the time this 1935 Ford phaeton rolled off the assembly line, the phaeton’s days were numbered.  1938 was the last year Ford offered the body style.  These last phaetons consisted of the convertible sedan body modified to take side curtains for reasons known only to Ford.  The phaeton’s successor, the convertible sedan, also disappeared from the company’s lineup with the 1940 Mercury convertible sedan.  The body style made a brief resurgence with the 1961 to 1969 Lincoln Continental.

Why would someone want a phaeton so late in the game when there were far more practical alternatives?  Once you get past the cost and personal preferences of the buyer, the answer is in the pictures above.  For an economy car, Ford’s phaetons punched far outside their weight range when it came to styling.  Ford sold a paltry 6,073 phaetons in 1935  but you see them popping up in classic car ads frequently.  Why would they have such a high survival rate if it were a pain to get them ready for inclement weather and the body itself acts as a bathtub if you don’t make it in time?  The answer is that you can put one in a lineup with full classics at a concours with no shame.  1935 and 1936 Ford phaetons have always been recognized as special cars, and their survival rate bears witness to that.

The 1935 Ford phaeton featured here is likely one of the nicest surviving examples.  It was previously displayed at the prestigious Imperial Palace Automobile Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was professionally refurbished in 2016 to “show quality standards.”  Since that time, the car has covered just 732 miles.  It is finished in Washington Blue with what looks to be Vermillion Red trim and has a leather interior.  The seller is upfront in telling us that the convertible top has a minor flaw that has been repaired.  We are also told that the car has been upgraded to 1939 Ford spec hydraulic brakes to replace the mechanical braking system that Henry Ford so famously insisted on even after all of this competition had long since made the switch.  This phaeton is also said to have the correct 21-stud Flathead V-8 under the hood.  That V-8 wears replacement iron heads.  Ford switched to aluminum heads shortly after the Flathead V-8 came out in a vain attempt to alleviate the overheating issues that plagued it.  Those aluminum heads came with their own special troubles and were routinely replaced with iron heads back then.

In the ad, the seller reassures us that this phaeton “runs and rides great,” and that it “is ready to drive now.”  We are also told that the purchase price is a fraction of what it would cost to restore another phaeton.  That is probably true, especially when you consider the pedigree of the car.  If it was restored for the Imperial Palace collection, that would mean that NOS (new old stock) parts were plentiful at the time and the car was likely restored with nearly all original parts.  The $39,500 price is top-of-the-mark for a phaeton at this time, but this example may be worth it.  They are beautiful cars that are worth the hassle of ownership.  Sometimes gorgeous objects make us blind to everything else.

Have you ever owned a four-door convertible of any sort?  Do you think this 1935 Ford phaeton’s looks are worth the hassle of ownership?  Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.