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Here is another article that buddy, Al Fromm provided to me regarding the history of how the retractable hardtop came into being.
By Tim Howley
While Ford Motor Co. did not invent the retractable hardtop, it was the first automaker to mass produce it. Deriving his inspiration from the Chrysler Thunderbolt, Ford’s Gil Spear made a number of retractable hardtop sketches in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. Spear found a supporter in William Clay Ford, who headed Ford’s Special Projects Division. This division was founded in 1952 to develop the Continental Mark II. William Clay, along with his chief engineer, Harley Copp, felt that a retactable hardtop was just a novel enough idea to put the upcoming Continental Mark II on the map, so the company set aside $2.19 million for the Special Projects Division to perfect this unique idea. Head of the project was Ford’s John R. Hollowell. Actual design work was carried out by Ben J. Smith, who had come over from General Motors.
Work was started in July, 1953. The task turned out to be a lot more difficult than originally expected. Several months of effort resulted in a three-eights-scale working model with a clamshell roof that separated into two parts so that it could fit into the trunk. Now came the big ceremony of presenting the working model to management. When the deck lid rose, it came off its pivots, shot straight up in the air, and landed in the hands of one of the engineers. Everyone laughed but Ben Smith, who blushingly put the deck lid back on its pivots. The second time the demonstration worked perfectly.
The first Continental retractable prototype was built up from a cobbled 1953 Lincoln body. There were four such bodies built on Mark II frames by Hess & Eisenhardt. Two of the cars were used to work out the Mark II’s handling and ride. A third car had a Mark II windshield and substructure and was used to prove body components. The fourth car, a convertible, was used in the retractable hardtop program and there are rumors that this car still exists.
The convertible had only one drive motor and one master cylinder switch. One of the toughest challenges was to find a way to lash the forward part of the top, or “flipper”, to the windshield header. Smith, with engineer named Butler, worked up a patented system of screw locks. Early models were hydraulic. Later, there was an electric motor inside the flipper with flexible cables running too the header lock screws. Other screws locked the C-Pillars to the body. Development work ended in the summer of 1955, six months behind schedule, and much too late to be offered on the Continental Mark II at its introduction, October 21. By the summer of 1955 a prototype Continental Mark II standard convertible was in the works, but it was doubtful that even this could be sold at a price that would justify its development.
Thus, in order to recover the original $2.19 million invested in the retractable program, it was decided to turn the project over to the Ford Division which, hopefully, would mass produce the novel model. Before the retractable hardtop ever go into production as a 1957 mode, however, the Ford Division had spent another $18 million on its development. After three years and 48,394 retractables built, Ford still hadn’t produced enough of these models to recover its research and development investment.
The concept then became incorporated into the standard Thunderbird convertible, which used the mechanism, less the steel top, from 1960 through 1966. In yet another incarnation the mechanism was used on the 1961-1967 Lincoln Continental four-door convertible. In fact, it might justifiably be said that the Lincoln Continental convertible was developed to help recover the investment costs of the original retractable program. In the end, neither the Thunderbird nor the Lincoln convertibles could be sold in quantities large enough to ensure their continuation.
April 1997 P153
Ford Retractable Story
While Ford Motor Co. did not invent the retractable hardtop, it was the first automaker to mass produce it. Deriving his inspiration from the Chrysler Thunderbolt, Ford’s Gil Spear made a number of retractable hardtop sketches in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. Spear found a supporter in William Clay Ford, who headed Ford’s Special Projects Division. This division was founded in 1952 to develop the Continental Mark II. William Clay, along with his chief engineer, Harley Copp, felt that a retactable hardtop was just a novel enough idea to put the upcoming Continental Mark II on the map, so the company set aside $2.19 million for the Special Projects Division to perfect this unique idea. Head of the project was Ford’s John R. Hollowell. Actual design work was carried out by Ben J. Smith, who had come over from General Motors.
Work was started in July, 1953. The task turned out to be a lot more difficult than originally expected. Several months of effort resulted in a three-eights-scale working model with a clamshell roof that separated into two parts so that it could fit into the trunk. Now came the big ceremony of presenting the working model to management. When the deck lid rose, it came off its pivots, shot straight up in the air, and landed in the hands of one of the engineers. Everyone laughed but Ben Smith, who blushingly put the deck lid back on its pivots. The second time the demonstration worked perfectly.
The first Continental retractable prototype was built up from a cobbled 1953 Lincoln body. There were four such bodies built on Mark II frames by Hess & Eisenhardt. Two of the cars were used to work out the Mark II’s handling and ride. A third car had a Mark II windshield and substructure and was used to prove body components. The fourth car, a convertible, was used in the retractable hardtop program and there are rumors that this car still exists.
The convertible had only one drive motor and one master cylinder switch. One of the toughest challenges was to find a way to lash the forward part of the top, or “flipper”, to the windshield header. Smith, with engineer named Butler, worked up a patented system of screw locks. Early models were hydraulic. Later, there was an electric motor inside the flipper with flexible cables running too the header lock screws. Other screws locked the C-Pillars to the body. Development work ended in the summer of 1955, six months behind schedule, and much too late to be offered on the Continental Mark II at its introduction, October 21. By the summer of 1955 a prototype Continental Mark II standard convertible was in the works, but it was doubtful that even this could be sold at a price that would justify its development.
Thus, in order to recover the original $2.19 million invested in the retractable program, it was decided to turn the project over to the Ford Division which, hopefully, would mass produce the novel model. Before the retractable hardtop ever go into production as a 1957 mode, however, the Ford Division had spent another $18 million on its development. After three years and 48,394 retractables built, Ford still hadn’t produced enough of these models to recover its research and development investment.
The concept then became incorporated into the standard Thunderbird convertible, which used the mechanism, less the steel top, from 1960 through 1966. In yet another incarnation the mechanism was used on the 1961-1967 Lincoln Continental four-door convertible. In fact, it might justifiably be said that the Lincoln Continental convertible was developed to help recover the investment costs of the original retractable program. In the end, neither the Thunderbird nor the Lincoln convertibles could be sold in quantities large enough to ensure their continuation.
April 1997 P153
memory that it was so. Two full days on the internet trying to locate a photo of the roof partially retracted and I discovered your site where I was sure to find validation and secure my pot of gold........ALAS........if I understand the above correctly, my memory from youth has failed.
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