Sunroof

An automotive sunroof is a movable (typically glass) panel that is operable to uncover a window in an automobile roof, which allows light and/or fresh air to enter the passenger compartment. Sunroofs are either manually operated or motor driven, and are available in many shapes, sizes and styles. While the term sunroof is now used generically to describe any glass panel in the roof, the term 'moonroof' was historically used to describe stationary glass panes rigidly mounted in the roof panel over the passenger compartment. Previous terms include Sunshine Roof, Sliding Head and Sliding Roof.Aftermarket Pop-up (Sunmate Pop-Up)Aftermarket Spoiler (Skyroof LSS Spoiler)Folding Sunroof on a Volkswagen BeetleInbuilt (Moonroof) in Chevy BlazerAftermarket Top-mount slider (Skyroof II Topslider)T-Tops in Pontiac TransAmTarga Top in Porsche 914The panoramic roof of a Pontiac G6The Suzuki Cappuccino's unusual roof could be configured as a full convertible, Targa, or T-top An automotive sunroof is a movable (typically glass) panel that is operable to uncover a window in an automobile roof, which allows light and/or fresh air to enter the passenger compartment. Sunroofs are either manually operated or motor driven, and are available in many shapes, sizes and styles. While the term sunroof is now used generically to describe any glass panel in the roof, the term 'moonroof' was historically used to describe stationary glass panes rigidly mounted in the roof panel over the passenger compartment. Previous terms include Sunshine Roof, Sliding Head and Sliding Roof. A common configuration for early automobiles included a fixed roof for the rear passenger compartment and an uncovered section for the chauffeur in a style known as Coupe de Ville, Sedanca (two door) or Sedanca de Ville. An open cabin allowed the driver to be more connected to their surroundings, demonstrated that the car's owner employed a paid driver (one reason chauffeurs wore uniform) and identified the owner through the driver's livery (the other reason for the uniform). Road speeds were increasing and vehicles were changing from occasional use to full-time transport meaning that they were increasingly being used in bad weather. In order to provide better shelter for the driver therefore, temporary cover was now demanded. These part-time roofs, sometimes at first just a stretched piece of leather, became more sophisticated comprising frame elements and leather or water-resistant cloth to form the construction, and installations even included spaces provided to store the parts when not in use. By the late 1920s, a more convenient version of the temporary roof was often being used where a solid metal panel would slide into a slot at the top of the passenger compartment, sometimes called a de Ville extension. By the early 1930s, cars were being constructed in the Sedan style comprising a metal one-piece roof without the gap above the driver's cabin. To provide a similar facility to the earlier Coup de Ville configurations, sliding cloth or metal panels recognisable as the modern sunroof were regularly fitted to Bentley and Rolls Royce models built by coach builders such as Barker, Gurney Nutting or Park Ward. In these cars, the continuous roofline, between the windscreen and passenger compartment, was unbroken and so, unlike the Coup de Ville, a coverable opening had to be let into the roof panel itself.