Ray, Ford Model T’s through A’s had phaetons, 4 door convertibles. ‘35-‘39 Ford’s had phaetons or in ‘39 they called them convertible sedans. And then there were the beautiful’61-64 Lincoln Continenals.
Although not convertibles, the ‘67-71 Thunderbirds were 4-doors with suicide tear doors hung on the C-column.
Love your column, BTW.
Ray doesn’t post here but I thought of the same thing watching an old TV show the other night. There was a big Lincoln with rear doors that opened opposite to the front doors and I thought to myself, “There’s your 4 door convertible.”
Lots of pre-1930 cars were 4 door ‘convertibles’, but it was a bit involved to put the top down.
Even lowly Plymouth had a four door convertible in the 1930’s or 40’s.
A friend restored a mid-30’s Auburn 4-Dr convertible with carved wooden bows, it has a straight-8 engine with a mechanically driven supercharger, capable of > 100mph when new. (I get to sit in it.)