Cabrio coach


A cabrio coach or semi-convertible is a type of car that has a retractable textile roof, similar to a convertible/cabriolet. The difference is that where a convertible often has the B-pillar, C-pillar and other bodywork removed, the cabrio-coach retains all bodywork to the top of the door frames and just replaces the roof skin with a retractable fabric panel.
An advantage of a cabrio-coach is that retaining more of the car's original structure means that structural rigidity is higher than traditional cabriolets.
If a vehicle's roof includes metal panels as well as the soft-top, it may be considered to be a fixed-roof vehicle with a sunroof, instead of being a cabrio-coach.

History

This type of roof was popular in Germany in the 1930s, and was found on cars such as the Mercedes-Benz Ponton, Saab 92, Citroën 2CV, Fiat 500, GAZ-M20 Pobeda and the Fuldamobil. It is often called a "Webasto" since a German company of that name has been the main supplier for both factory built and aftermarket cloth car roofs since that time.
A variant in which the original sedan's fixed rear glass window was retained first appeared in the 1930s, and had the advantage that it could be more easily retrofitted to an existing car; it was a factory option for the Volkswagen Beetle up to 1963.
Some more modern cars also feature this roof style, for instance BMW Compact, Volkswagen Polo, Nissan Figaro, Isuzu Amigo, Fiat 500, Citroën C3 Plurial and Suzuki Vitara.