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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.
Improved climate control and security benefits are traded against increased mechanical complexity, cost, weight, and often reduced luggage capacity.
A 2006 New York Times article suggested the retractable hardtop might herald the demise of the textile-roofed convertible, 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."
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. He developed several scale models for the 1922 Automobile Body Builders Exhibition in New York City. In 1922, he modified a 1919 Hudson Super Six roadster with his manually operated gear and spring "flip top" system. It allowed unimpeded use of the rumble seat even with the top down. The design was not put into production.
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.
1932 The French patent system granted Paulin patent number 733.380 for his Eclipse roof system on 5 July 1932.
1934 Paulin's Eclipse retractable hard roof was first presented on the Peugeot 401D Éclipse Décapotable, a low convertible coupé. 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. The same year, a Lancia Belna, a French-built Lancia Augusta, was also built as an Eclipse.
1935 Peugeot purchased Paulin's patent, and introduced the first factory production, power-operated, retractable hardtop in 1935, the "402BL Éclipse Décapotable", of which some 470 were built. Pourtout build custom examples, designed by Paulin, on other makes including Delage and Panhard as well as the "Eclipse" coupé-convertibles based on the Peugeot 301, 401, 601, 302, and 402.
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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.
Improved climate control and security benefits are traded against increased mechanical complexity, cost, weight, and often reduced luggage capacity.
A 2006 New York Times article suggested the retractable hardtop might herald the demise of the textile-roofed convertible, 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."
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. He developed several scale models for the 1922 Automobile Body Builders Exhibition in New York City. In 1922, he modified a 1919 Hudson Super Six roadster with his manually operated gear and spring "flip top" system. It allowed unimpeded use of the rumble seat even with the top down. The design was not put into production.
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.
1932 The French patent system granted Paulin patent number 733.380 for his Eclipse roof system on 5 July 1932.
1934 Paulin's Eclipse retractable hard roof was first presented on the Peugeot 401D Éclipse Décapotable, a low convertible coupé. 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. The same year, a Lancia Belna, a French-built Lancia Augusta, was also built as an Eclipse.
1935 Peugeot purchased Paulin's patent, and introduced the first factory production, power-operated, retractable hardtop in 1935, the "402BL Éclipse Décapotable", of which some 470 were built. Pourtout build custom examples, designed by Paulin, on other makes including Delage and Panhard as well as the "Eclipse" coupé-convertibles based on the Peugeot 301, 401, 601, 302, and 402.