A Volvo C70 with retractable hardtop

A retractable hardtop — also known as "coupé convertible" or "coupé cabriolet" — is a car with an automatically operated, self-storing hardtop, as opposed to the folding textile-based roof used by traditional convertible cars.

The benefits of improved climate control and security are traded off against increased mechanical complexity, cost, weight, and often reduced luggage capacity.

A 2006 New York Times article suggested the retractable hardtop may herald the demise of the textile-roofed convertible,[1] and a 2007 Wall Street Journal article suggested "more and more convertibles are eschewing soft cloth tops in favor of sophisticated folding metal roofs, making them practical in all climates, year-round."[2]

History

1934 Peugeot 401D Coupé transformable Eclipse (Pourtout)
1934 Peugeot 601 C Eclipse
1934 Lancia Belna Eclipse

1922 Ben P. Ellerbeck developed several scale modes of a retractable hardtop shown at the 1922 Automobile Body Builders Exhibition in New York City as well as a manually operated system on a modified 1919 Hudson Super Six roadster. It was a gear and spring system that allowed unimpeded use of the rumble seat even with the top down.[3][4] He was granted a patent (U.S. No. 1,379,906 on 31 May 1921), but the design was not put into production.[5][6]

1931 Georges Paulin made his idea public by applying for a patent on a detachable hard roof design, that could ultimately be moved and stowed automatically in a car's rear luggage compartment, under a reverse-hinged rear-deck lid.[7]

1932 The French patent system granted Paulin patent number 733.380 for his Eclipse roof system, on July 5, 1932.[7]

1934 Paulin's Eclipse retractable hard roof [1] was first presented on the Peugeot 401D Éclipse Décapotable, a low convertible coupé.[8][9] In 1933, Paulin showed his designs to premier coachbuilder Marcel Pourtout, who hired him as lead designer, and in 1934 they equipped first a Peugeot 401D, followed by a 601C, with "Eclipse" roofs and bodywork, on chassis provided by Emile Darl'mat. In the same year, a Lancia Belna, a French-built Lancia Augusta, was also built as an Eclipse.[10]

1935 Peugeot purchased Paulin's patent, and introduced the first factory production, power-operated, retractable hardtop in 1935, the "402BL Éclipse Décapotable",[11][12] of which some 470 were built.[1] Pourtout kept building custom examples, designed by Paulin, on other makes like Delage and Panhard, and "Eclipse" coupé-convertibles based on the Peugeot 301, 401, 601, 302, and 402.[1]

1941 Chrysler introduced a retractable hardtop concept car, the Chrysler Thunderbolt.[4]

1947 American Playboy Automobile Company marketed one of the first series produced convertibles, with a retractable roof consisting of more than one section. Ninety-seven production models were made, until their bankruptcy in 1951.

Playboy with convertible hard-top – Amsterdam International Autoshow (AutoRAI), 1948
Photographs show the Playboy with the top in a closed and open configuration.
Factory Peugeot 402 Eclipse Decapotable (1938)
1958 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner with roof in mid folding action

1953 Ford Motor Company spent an estimated US$2 million (US$21,875,622 in 2022 dollars[13]) to engineer a Continental Mark II with a servo-operated retractable roof. The project was headed by Ben Smith, a 30-year-old draftsman.[14] The concept was rejected for cost and marketing reasons.[4] Engineering work was recycled to the Ford Division which used the retractable mechanism in their 1957-1959 flagship Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner after an estimated US$18 million (US$187,549,763 in 2022 dollars[13]) more was spent.[15]

1955 Brothers Ed and Jim Gaylord showed their prototype at the 1955 Paris Motor Show, but the car failed to reach production.[16]

1956 After working for 4,000 hours and investing $100 in the whole car, Raymond P. Meyette, built a one-piece power-operated hardtop convertible using a 1952 Nash Ambassador chassis.[17]

1957 Ford introduced the Fairlane 500 Skyliner in the United States. A total of 48,394 were built from 1957 to 1959.[4] The retractable top was noted for its complexity and usually decent reliability[18][19] in the pre-transistor era. Its mechanism contained ten power relays, ten limit switches, four lock motors, three drive motors, eight circuit breakers, as well as 610 feet (190 m) of electrical wire,[4] and could raise or lower the top in about 40 seconds. The Skyliner was a halo car with little luggage space (i.e., practicality), and cost twice that of a baseline Ford sedan.

1989 Toyota introduced a modern retractable hardtop, the MZ20 Soarer Aerocabin. The car featured an electric folding hardtop and was marketed as a 2-seater with a cargo area behind the front seats. Production was 500 units.

1996 Mercedes SLK

1995 The Mitsubishi GTO Spyder by ASC was marketed in the U.S.[6] The design was further popularized by such cars as the 1996 Mercedes-Benz SLK.[1] and 2001 Peugeot 206 CC.

2006 Peugeot presented a concept four-door retractable hardtop convertible, the Peugeot 407 Macarena.[20] Produced by French coachbuilding specialist Heuliez, the Macarena's top can be folded in about 30 seconds.[20] It has a reinforcing beam behind the front seats which incorporates LCD screens into the crossmember for the rear passengers.[20]

Construction

Closing of the retractable hardtop of a BMW 3-series (E93)

Retractable hardtops are commonly made from between two and five sections of metal or plastic and often rely on complex dual-hinged trunk/boot lids that enable the trunk lid to both receive the retracting top from the front and also receive parcels or luggage from the rear. The trunk also often includes a divider mechanism to prevent the loading of luggage that would conflict with the operation of the hardtop.

Variations

  • The Volkswagen Eos features a five-segment retractable roof where one section is itself an independently sliding transparent sunroof.[2]
  • The Mercedes SL hardtop features a glass section that rotates during retraction to provide a more compact "stack."
  • The third-generation Mazda MX-5 was available with an optional power retractable hardtop, in place of the standard folding-textile soft-top. Compared to the regular soft-top, the hardtop weighed 77 lb (35 kg) more yet had no reduction in cargo capacity.[21] The MX-5 was one of the few cars offering both hardtop and soft-top convertible choices. The hardtop roof was constructed of polycarbonate and manufactured by the German firm Webasto.[22]
  • The Chrysler Sebring's (and its successor the Chrysler 200's) retractable hardtop also is marketed alongside a soft-top. According to development engineer Dave Lauzun, during construction, the Karmann-made tops are installed into a largely identical body: both soft-top and retractable feature the same automatic tonneau cover, luggage divider, and luggage space.[23] The retractable does feature an underbody cross-brace not included in the softtop.

Comparison with soft tops

The retractable hardtop's advantages include:

  • More weatherly when the roof is raised
  • More secure than fabric tops[2][24]
  • Increased structural rigidity
  • May enable consolidation/simplification of a manufacturer's car lineup; for instance the BMW Z4 (E89) was offered only as a coupé-convertible (hardtop), compared to the preceding E85 generation that had separate coupé and cabriolet (soft-top) variants.

The retractable hardtop's disadvantages include:

  • Higher initial cost
  • Increased mechanical complexity
  • Potentially diminished passenger and trunk space compared to a soft-top convertible.[25][26]
  • Higher weight and center of gravity than soft-top convertibles, potentially reducing handling.[27][25][26]
  • Potential need for more than minimum clearance while operating the hardtop. For example, the Volvo C70 requires 6.5 feet (2 m) of vertical clearance during operation,[28] the Cadillac XLR requires 6 ft 10+1⁄2 in (2 m) of vertical clearance and the Mercedes SLK's trunk lid extends rearward while lowering or lifting the top.

List of retractable hardtop models

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Sass, Rob (10 December 2006). "New Again: The Hideaway Hardtop". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Vella, Matt (26 April 2007). "Convertibles with Hard Tops". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  3. ↑ Gosden, W.E. (April 1979). "The first Fliptop? Ellerbeck had a Better Idea". Special Interest Autos. pp. 20–21.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Nerad, Jack. "Ford Skyliner". Driving Today. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  5. ↑ Creager, Reid (February 2022). "Going Like 100: the convertible celebrates a milestone birthday, all started by an uncelebrated inventor" (PDF). Inventors Digest. 38 (2): 14–16. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  6. 1 2 "History, Revival". Retractable Hardtop Online. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  7. 1 2 Buchanan, James. "The Story of Lancia, Paulin and John Moir". redroom.com. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  8. ↑ Brierley, Brooks T. (17 June 2001). "1935 Peugeot Model 401D Eclipse: The first retractable hardtop". autoweek.com. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  9. ↑ "From the Zero to the Eclipse". Peugeot.mainspot.net. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "1934 Lancia Belna Eclipse by Pourtout". Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  11. ↑ "Disappearing Top On Auto Worked By Push Button". Popular Mechanics. Vol. 63, no. 2. February 1935. p. 253. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  12. ↑ "Latest Foreign Auto Has Disappearing Top". Popular Mechanics. Vol. 65, no. 1. January 1936. p. 53. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  13. 1 2 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  14. ↑ Merlis, Bob (6 March 2007). "Lucy Loved Ford's First Hard Top Convertible". GreatcarsTV.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2008.
  15. ↑ Severson, Aaron (26 April 2009). "Raising the Roof: The Ford Skyliner 'Retrac'". Ate Up With Motor. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  16. ↑ Auto Editors of Consumer Guide (13 November 2007). "1950 Gaylord concept cars". auto.howstuffworks.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  17. ↑ Sand, George X. (December 1956). "They told him it could not be built - so he built it himself: A Hardtop Convertible". Popular Mechanics. Vol. 106, no. 6. pp. 138–139. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  18. ↑ Willson, Quentin (1995). The Ultimate Classic Car Book. DK Publishing. ISBN 0-7894-0159-2.
  19. ↑ Auto Editors of Consumer Guide (20 July 2007). "1957-1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner". auto.howstuffworks.com. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  20. 1 2 3 {{cite web |title=¡Hey, Macarena! Heuliez Creates an Open-Top Peugeot 407 |work=Edmunds |date=28 January 2006 |url= http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=109085 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061219010531/http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId%3D109085 |archive-date=19 December 2006}
  21. 1 2 Vaughn, Mark (10 September 2006). "2007 Mazda MX-5 Miata Power Retractable Hardtop". autoweek.com. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  22. ↑ "2007 Mazda MX-5 Miata Hardtop". Car and Driver. 1 September 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  23. ↑ Lauzun, Dave. "2008 Chrysler Sebring Convertible". Autonetwork.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  24. ↑ "Great Drive: Luxury Hardtop Convertible Comparison". Automobile. August 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  25. 1 2 St. Antoine, Arthur (May 2010). "Luxury Convertible Comparison: 2010 Audi A5 vs 2010 BMW 335i vs 2009 Infiniti G37 vs 2010 Lexus IS 350". Motor Trend. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  26. 1 2 Swan, Tony (June 2007). "2007 VW Eos vs. Audi A4, BMW 328i, Volvo C70, Saab 9-3 – Comparison Tests". caranddriver.com. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  27. ↑ Swan, Tony (March 2010). "2010 Audi A5 2.0T Quattro vs. 2010 BMW 328i, 2009 Infiniti G37, 2010 Lexus IS350C – Comparison Tests". Car and Driver. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  28. ↑ "2007 Volvo C70". volvocars.com, C70 owner documentation, Page 93. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  29. ↑ Keebler, Jack (August 2002). "2004 Cadillac XLR". Motor Trend. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
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