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The coupé convertible (in French coupé cabriolet) or retractable hardtop (more common US usage) is an evolution of car body style that involves the flexibility of a mobile roof (from the convertible) and of the rigid roof of a coupé. In the first years of the 2000s, car manufacturers started building articulated retractable rigid roofs allowing the automobiles using this configuration to go seamlessly from convertible to coupé and back.
Usually, the roof is made of two metal parts that fold and store themselves in the trunk when in convertible position. More recently, started to appear cars where all parts of the roof are transparent (made out of glass) in a kind of foldable sunroof.
This idea is not new, having been used by Peugeot before World War II and the Ford Motor Company in the 1950s with the Ford Skyliner sold for 3 years in the US market. However, unreliability and expense doomed those earlier efforts.
This approach, despite its obvious mechanical costs, is considered much more convenient in day-to-day use than the more traditional removable hardtop used by some convertibles to replace the textile roof during rainy or winter months.
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Examples of Coupé Convertible:
- Cadillac XLR
- Daihatsu Copen
- Lexus SC 430
- Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class (R170 & R171)
- Mercedes-Benz SL-Class (R230)
- Mitsubishi 3000GT Spyder
- Opel Tigra
- Peugeot 206cc
- Peugeot 307cc
- Renault Mégane-cc (with glass roof)
See also
- Ford Fairlane, basis for the Ford Skyliner
- Chevrolet SSR, a recent pickup truck with a retractable hardtopja:クーペカブリオレ