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>> A lot of innovations in tops of cars lately. We've seen the retractable hard top happen a lot, convertibles of course were back with a vengeance for a number of years now but they'll have one thing in common, their kinda heavy and kinda complicated. Lots of hinges, lots of supporting framework, they add bulk and they often change the direction of the car's design. Webasto has an idea here to make it simpler and lighter. This is called a Light Hybrid Top. Now, notice that it's a rigid piece even though this is fabric covered, it looks like a cloth top but it's not and here's how it opens up. Once you unlatch it, you bring it back like so and it articulates across these plastic-hinged sort of veins here, that's the folding part that allows you to go flat on the back of the car or to be arched when it's actually closed. Real hard polycarbonate block light, no flexible plastic there and the hinge line is right along here at base a meter of pin at each side of this pivot point and that's it in terms of integrating into the body, very simple. Notice all the apparatus it doesn't have unlike most other cars. Also, lightweight is a big story here. They say it can get down as low as 15 kg for the entire apparatus, that's around a third of a typical convertible top. Overall, this is the kind that will allow a manufacturer to design as they wish and then drop in a retractable top without having to redo lots of structure of the car. Not set for production, it's one of these things that will filter in to the auto industry but I look forward to seeing this on a real car one day.
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