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The name Phaeton derives from Phaëton, the son of Phoebus and Helios in Greek mythology — and also a type of horse drawn carriage. The Phaeton was the idea of Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piëch. Piëch wanted VW engineers to create a car that would overwhelmingly surpass the prestige market leaders, Mercedes Benz and BMW. The decision to release the Phaeton was, in part, a response to Mercedes' decision to compete directly with VW in the European marketplace with the low-cost A-Class. Initial development of the Phaeton began with Piëch giving his engineers a list of ten parameters the car needed to fulfill. Most of these specifications were not made known to the public, but a number of them were told to automotive reporters. One of them was that the Phaeton should be capable of being driven all day at 300 km/h (186 mph) with an exterior temperature of 50 °C (122 °F) whilst maintaining the interior temperature at 22 °C (71.6 °F). Piëch requested this despite the Phaeton's top speed being electronically limited to 250 km/h (155 mph). Another was that the car should possess torsional rigidity of 37,000nm/degree. The Phaeton's platform, the D1 platform, is shared with the Bentley Continental GT and Bentley Continental Flying Spur. Certain systems such as the transmission and some engines are also shared with the Audi A8. The D1 is a stand alone platform, and was specifically developed for the Phaeton and Bentley under code name VW611. It is commonly mistaken with Audi's D3 platform, which is aluminium-based instead of the D1's steel platform. As of 2005, the Phaeton has the longest wheelbase in the Volkswagen passenger line. The Phaeton is hand-assembled in an eco-friendly factory with a glass exterior, the Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden, Germany. This factory also assembled the Bentley Continental Flying Spur until October 2006, when assembly of the Bentley was transferred to Crewe, England.
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