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the pioneers
the limitations of modular bodies probably inspired ben b ellerbeck when he conceived the retractable hardtop system in 1922 / this device allowed
to switch easily between coupé and convertible modes thanks to an articulated hardtop that could be moved onto the trunk /
the transformation is manual but only one person is required / ellerbeck fitted his system on a hudson
with an ultimate refinement : the top featured an opening so that the rumble seat could be opened even when the top was down /
ellerbeck's formula appears to be ideal : as a coupé, the car has an acceptable styling and its comfort is equivalent to a regular saloon car /
as a convertible, the lines are extremely smooth compared to other convertibles of that era with protruding folded cloth top
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however, the novelty never came into production and it took ten years for the concept to reappear, on the other side of the atlantic ocean and slightly reshaped / in early thirties, designer and engineer georges paulin, who created some masterpieces of pre-war french coachbuilding, developed the éclipse system / it was a retractable hardtop that not only retracted into the trunk (and not onto) but was electrically operated, hence even more practical and spectacular than ellerbeck's design / georges paulin built a battery-powered 1/10th scale mock-up which was unsuccessfully submitted to citroën in 1932 / an hotchkiss was the first car equiped with paulin's sytem / the car had to be showcased at the 1933 motor show but never made it because of a disagreement between the backer and the inventor / then the coachbuilder pourtout began to use the éclipse roof with a small batch of lancia belna, followed by a few cars based on peugeot 301 and 601 chassis / it was so well done that peugeot itself included éclipse models in its range from late 1934, despite the brand from sochaux was not used to such extravaganza / the 401d and 601d éclipse were not a huge commercial succes because of their price, but they were successful in concours d'élégance
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however, the most famous peugeot éclipse was the 402 which modern, aerodynamic styling (dubbed "fuseau sochaux") perfectly matched the spectacular retractable hardtop device / the first version was unveiled in late 1935 / it was only a 3-seater, as the rear seat had been abandoned to make the rear shape more fluid / though, the power retractable hardtop was dropped a year later and replaced by a manual one, which was cheaper, less complex and less cumbersome / this new version was even built on a longer chassis to accomodate a rear seat / the car was less elegant but more convenient, and was built until the war broke / after the war, peugeot focused on affordable cars and the flashy retractable hardtop was discontinued / this was the end of the first european era of the retractable hardtop (minus the two ttt-coachbuilt citroëns made in belgium in 1950 and 1952) and it re-appeared only in the eighties
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hudson photos : special interest autos / april 1979 / supplied by frank markus
lancia photo : rétroviseur / issue 20 / april 1990
peugeot 301 photo : peugeot d'hier et d'avant-hier / pierre dumont / edifree / 1983
peugeot 601c photo : toutes les peugeot / rené bellu / jean-pierre delville éditeur / 1980
peugeot 401d photo : les coupés cabriolets du lion / andré costa, catherine cabrol, véronique lefèvre / oberlin / 2000
peugeot 601c photo : l'auto-journal / issue 14/15 / august 15th, 1990
peugeot 402 électrique photos : peugeot d'hier et d'avant-hier / pierre dumont / edifree / 1983
and la peugeot 402-202 de mon père / patrick lesueur / etai / 2000
peugeot 402 mécanique photos : la peugeot 402-202 de mon père / patrick lesueur / etai / 2000 and peugeot brochure
last updated 12/01/2003