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]
1922 Ben P. Ellerbeck was granted a patent (U.S. No. 1,379,906 on 31 May 1921) for a retractable hardtop roof design for cars.[3] He developed several scale models for the 1922 Automobile Body Builders Exhibition in New York City.[4] In 1922, he modified a 1919 Hudson Super Six roadster with his manually operated gear and spring "flip top" system.[3] It allowed unimpeded use of the rumble seat even with the top down.[5] The design was not put into production.[6]
1931Georges 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]
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.[15]
Playboy with convertible hard-top – Amsterdam International Autoshow (AutoRAI), 1948
Photographs show the Playboy with the top in a closed and open configuration.
1953Ford Motor Company spent an estimated US$2 million (US$21,875,622 in 2022 dollars[16]) to engineer a Continental Mark II with a servo-operated retractable roof. The project was headed by Ben Smith, a 30-year-old draftsman.[17][failed verification] The concept was rejected for cost and marketing reasons.[5] 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[16]) more was spent.[18]
1955 Brothers Ed and Jim Gaylord showed their prototype at the 1955 Paris Motor Show, but the car failed to reach production.[19]
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.[20]
1957Ford introduced the Fairlane 500 Skyliner in the United States. A total of 48,394 were built from 1957 to 1959.[5] The retractable top was noted for its complexity and usually decent reliability[21][22] 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,[5]. It 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.
1989Toyota 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.
2006 Peugeot presented a concept four-door retractable hardtop convertible, the Peugeot 407 Macarena.[23] Produced by French coachbuilding specialist Heuliez, the Macarena's top can be folded in about 30 seconds.[23] It has a reinforcing beam behind the front seats which incorporates LCD screens into the crossmember for the rear passengers.[23]
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.[24] 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.[25]
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.[26] The retractable does feature an underbody cross-brace not included in the softtop.
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.[28][29]
Higher weight and center of gravity than soft-top convertibles, potentially reducing handling.[30][28][29]
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,[31] 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.
Cadillac XLR c. 2007, with fully retracted aluminum (i.e., lightweight) hardtop concealed by self-storing tonneau cover, the hardtop manufactured by a supplier joint venture of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche[32]
Daihatsu Copen c. 2001 with retracted hardtop, qualifying for the ultra-compact Japanese Kei class
Volkswagen Eos c. 2007, the five-segment top features an independently sliding sunroof, made by OASys
Opel Astra Twintop with a three-part folding metal roof which sits in the upper half of the boot space, leaving considerable luggage space below it. This model was built from 2005 until 2012.
^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.
.JPG){kind=spacer}
![Mazda Miata Power Retractable Hard Top (PRHT) c. 2007, with 77 lb (35 kg) polycarbonate hardtop and identical cargo capacity to the soft top version[24]](/en/File:Mazda_MX-5_hardtop.jpg)
![Cadillac XLR c. 2007, with fully retracted aluminum (i.e., lightweight) hardtop concealed by self-storing tonneau cover, the hardtop manufactured by a supplier joint venture of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche[32]](/en/File:Cadillac_XLR_2006.jpg)
_%E2%80%93_Heckansicht,_15._Mai_2011,_Wuppertal.jpg)