Studebaker Wagonaire pioneered sliding roof

When Audi unveiled its Activesphere concept station wagon/SUV in 2023 you could be forgiven for thinking they had invented to idea of a retractable roof over the rear compartment.

The publicity blurb quoted one of their mangers as saying “it is unique.”

Well, no. In fact, it is not unique.

The idea goes back to at least 1958 where it appeared on an Olin Aluminium Scimitar concept car developed by legendary industrial designer Brooks Stevens.

Three concepts were commissioned by the Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation, a mining, chemical and aluminium company.

One of the cars was a low-slung station wagon with a sliding rear roof section.

I’ve written about the Scimitars before in Cars4starters. See here.

Next to show off a wagon with a retractable roof was Mercury.

Their Palomar concept wagon did the rounds of US car shows in 1962 before it was destroyed in the fire which consumed Ford’s Rotunda building in November of that year.

I’ve written about the Palomar too. Here.

 

But it was left to the financially challenged Studebaker to offer a retractable roof on a production wagon.

And it just so happened that Books Stevens had a styling contract with Studebaker.

He’d reshaped the 1962-64 Gran Turismo Hawk and developed facelifts for the smaller Lark, including the 1963 model.

Always searching for low-cost ways to attract buyers, Studebaker decided to adapt the Scimitar’s sliding-roof to the 1963 Lark station wagon.

They called it the Wagonaire.

For Studebaker the ’63 Wagonaire was a success, with around 11,000 sold.

But there was a problem.

The sliding roof was not fully water tight. 

It relied on a series of drains to divert water from falling into the cabin.

Once the drains filled with rubbish their usefulness stopped.

Another neat idea was a fold out step built into the tailgate to improve access to the cargo area. 

The Wagonaire was built until March, 1966. 

That is when Studebaker stopped making cars.

Only 940 Wagonaires were built in that final year.

GM resurrected the sliding roof with its 2004 GMC Envoy XUV.

They expected annual sales of 90,000.

Barely 13,000 were sold over three years.

Product planners at Audi ought to take note.

David Burrell is the editor of retroautos

 

CHECKOUT: LC Torana a work of ingenuity

CHECKOUT: Bill Mitchell’s Last Gift — The Phantom