The Rise and Fall of Retractable Hardtops

In 2007 it seems every car company had a convertible with a fancy electric retractable hard top, but nowadays they seem to be abandoning them for soft tops. Why did they suddenly become popular, almost 100 years after they were invented, and why are they now disappearing, almost as quickly as they appeared? Images of the Chrysler Thunderbolt opening are courtesy of Richard Truesdell. 904 WERKS David video about the Toyota Soarer Aerocabin:    • 1989 Toyota Soarer AEROCABIN hardtop Conve...   Simon White video about the Honda Del Sol Transtop:    • Honda Del Sol TransTop roof now working   Intro music: In/Out by Public Memory from the YouTube audio library. To get early ad-free access to new videos, or your name at the end of my videos, please consider supporting me using Patreon from just $1 or 80p a month at https://www.patreon.com/bigcar Support me using PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/bigcartv Big Car Merch (t-shirts, mugs): https://teespring.com/stores/bigcartv Twitter: https://twitter.com/bigcartv My second channel - Little Car:    / littlecar   Sources: https://www.leblogauto.com/2009/08/ben-ell... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Paulin https://www.supercars.net/blog/1941-chrysl... https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-h... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Fairlan... https://velocetoday.com/top-acrobatics-the... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy_Auto... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retractable_... https://global.toyota/en/detail/7790394 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Soarer https://3000gtspyderregistry.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Spe... #bigcar