The 'Clamshell'. Brilliant.

Bring it back on SUVs... as long as it doesn't take any space from the... the... r-rear... frunkdatrunk. ette.

 

My Mom and Dad had a 1973 Pontiac Safari Wagon, (ours had a Pontiac 400 4bbl) I remember the gate being manually pushed-down, the glass was power though.

But to answer your question, the spare tire (which was huge) was on the side, the gas tank and gate took up the room/space below the floor.

Drop the seats, couple blankets and pillows, it was like having my own bedroom on wheels!

 

The 90's version.

 

The 90's version.

Not liking the 90's version much.

Bodyshell won't be very rigid will be great when it gets a bit out of shape with sticking door problems, looks a bit of a nightmare to fix in a side-on collision accident will carry heavy insurance premiums, will a buckled door retract inward after an accident let you out in a thermal runaway fire in an electric car, the interior must get absolutely soaked in heavy rain you'll enjoy a nice soggy seat soon develop piles, door stowage area will fill up with water rot from within probably a nightmare to access when something goes wrong, when the motor packs ups or the door position sensors don't work in the leaving the door wide open position wide open position, you will be longing to get a car with those 1897 Mercedes door hinges design back, the disappearing door car will soon disappear of your drive.

Very nice idea like the easy access when some ars$hole parks a bit close when you return to the car , just something else to go wrong, can see why it never caught-on.

 

My parents had a Grand Safari with it, my brother and I called them "shuttle craft doors" (both of us were big "Star Trek" fans). I always loved watching my parents opening those things.

 

The Scoutmaster of my childhood troop had one. As a 12yo, I thought it was amazing., and couldn't figure out "where does it go?" 🤣 The system is a marvel of mechanical engineering.

I had never thought of it as "shuttle craft doors" before. Great nick-name.

 

 

Just like my parent's, minus the woodgrain! Brings back memories!

 

Yes, it was just like that, except the car was dark green and no wood grain!

 

Wow. Complicated for no reason! Very neat to watch though!

 

How is that 'complicated'??

 

Neat party trick but no, I'd rather have a simple hinged tailgate without all the extra sensors, solenoids, switches, motors and cables.

 

And let's not forget the wasted space needed for the parts to slide into. "Complicated for no reason" is a pretty apt description.

 

Any chance you were also physically larger after aging 11 years?

 

Don't tell my mom, but my 9 year younger brother was the "test dummy" for the 76! 😁

 

Tellingly, that design reverted to the simpler two way operating tailgate with the 1977 downsizing. But I thought it was an elegant solution in 1971 when it came out. Why would anyone do anything else?, I wondered.

 

Styling.