Well this is interesting...Ford Trucks Posing As Jeeps, With Removable Tops and Doors?

AbleGuy

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
Wow! Great Idea! Ford just keeps the hits coming...add the towing capacity, the great mpgs of the turbo, the cargo weight rating...and now this. Right now they indicated it’s a Ranger looking truck in the patent pics, but if it’s successful, I’m hoping to see it in the F150 model. Then, I seriously might have to take a hard second look at the F150 when this new option comes out. But when might that be?

“Ford Patents Convertible Pickup Truck Roof Similar To Jeep Gladiator's”

Ford Pickup Has New Removable Roof Patentk
The filing says a single person could attach or remove the roof panel! How cool would that be?

(The Below Is From:https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/aut...ck-roof-similar-to-jeep-gladiators/ar-AAI44CU)

The removable roof makes the Jeep Gladiator unique among American pickups because of its open-air driving ability, but a new patent from Ford indicates the Blue Oval might be contemplating a drop-top truck, too. The filing also covers a self-aligning mounting system for making it easier to install the top.

Ford wants its removable panel to be easy to install and to remove. A series of latches would attach the roof to the windshield header and body structure. Putting the piece in place would only require downward force to latch into place, and this process would also create a rearward force to fasten against the body.

The patent states that the advantage of this self-aligning mounting system is that the roof panel could come off or on the vehicle by "physically operating only the latching assemblies." The filing claims that the design would allow just one person to remove the piece.

Ford's patent includes descriptions for multiple versions of this roof. It could include a fixed rear window or a sliding version. In addition, the roof portion could be clear, and this panel could be separately removable.

Because this filing applies as much to the fastening method as the actual panel, Ford says that it could also work on "cars, vans, sport utility vehicles, or any other type of vehicle that includes a removable roof assembly."

There are also many patents with Bronco-looking vehicles suggest that Ford is toying with multiple ideas of how to equip the rugged SUV with a removable roof and doors. The ideas include a retractable cloth top and mounting the mirrors on the A-pillars so there's no loss in visibility when the doors are gone.
 
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vintageracer

vintageracer

To Infinity and Beyond!
Ford dealer friend of mine just returned from seeing the new Bronco. No pictures as their cell phones were collected however he says the new Bronco will have a removable roof and doors as part of the design or at least package offerings. He says he was very pleased with what he saw. Said should be good off-road vehicle and not just a warmed over street SUV. Time will tell!
 
AbleGuy

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
Explorerinil said:
Ford just repackages what others have done, advertises the hell out of it and claims it for their own.
Click to expand...
And somehow you’re thinking this is a bad thing?

Smart business plan actually ...let the other guys do all of the expensive the RnD first, then also let them see if there’s a market for that type of rig, and if so then just copy it, make it “Ford Tough” and sell it to Ford aficionados. Works for me!?
 
AbleGuy

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
Shovel said:
Looks like a good way to get rid of people who text while driving. Load up the bed of your roofless pickup with a bunch of lumber and fire up grindr, start swiping hotties, rear end somebody at a stoplight and before you know it the roads are a safer place.
Click to expand...

******? I’m not even starting to figure out what you are saying here...?

Unless this somehow is a weird, coded message about something entirely different.....? load up your “bed” with wood and “fire up grindr, rear end somebody” ? ?
 
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Martinjmpr

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
Hopeless Diamond said:
Seems to me, I remember a few years (decades?) ago, Ford & Chevy having 4WD vehicles with removable tops. Didn't they have vehicles called Broncos and Blazers...
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Yes they did and as soon as they realized that 99.9% of owners never EVER removed the tops, they stopped making them that way.

I said it in another thread and I'll say it again here: Convertibles are generally beloved by people who don't have to live with them on a daily basis.

A convertible as an "idea" or a concept or a PR photo is great.

A convertible as something you live with, day in, day out, during poor weather, etc, is a different story.
 
86scotty

86scotty

Cynic
Martinjmpr said:
Yes they did and as soon as they realized that 99.9% of owners never EVER removed the tops, they stopped making them that way.

I said it in another thread and I'll say it again here: Convertibles are generally beloved by people who don't have to live with them on a daily basis.

A convertible as an "idea" or a concept or a PR photo is great.

A convertible as something you live with, day in, day out, during poor weather, etc, is a different story.
Click to expand...

Interesting thought. I disagree, respectfully. No one should have to live with a convertible on a daily basis. I have no idea why they would. They are, by definition, impractical in inclement weather. Convertibles are luxury vehicles. They've never made a convertible Corolla or Taurus, for good reason. I've had several BMW convertibles and they were only daily's for the nice days of the year. Same for my Jeeps, Miatas, etc. None leaked in rain but I wouldn't want to drive them all winter.

I think the more important them here is fad. We're all sheep. People just want what others have but they want the brand they love. Auto makers don't make vehicles for any other reason but to support that anymore. That's why they all look and preform alike. Personal opinion, I hate this. Every year they copy each other more and more, and they copy us! They get bigger, fatter, softer and more difficult.

The only reason any domestic auto maker will actually make and release a convertible truckish/SUVish thing is because they can't stand Jeep getting all of the market share.
 
AbleGuy

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
Martinjmpr said:
I said it in another thread and I'll say it again here: Convertibles are generally beloved by people who don't have to live with them on a daily basis.
Click to expand...

Glad you stated that conditionally.

Many years ago when I lived in the mountains, my BIL who was in the same town had an old Bronco and I spent many a weekend out on the trails with him. The top of his Bronco stayed off from about mid May through mid October. Driving topless rigs like that on our truly crappy dirt forest roads, eating grit in clouds of dust and getting thoroughly soaked during monsoon cold rain downpours were all considered a joyous part of earning your rough guy badge of honor.

But it was a different world and we were much younger then.
 
AbleGuy

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
Back then (in the early 70’s), it was a different world.
People didn’t have to spend a year’s take home pay to buy a vehicle,
People didn’t know then that they didn’t have what they didn’t need,
Our rigs like the Bronco were basic but tough and got the job done,
That Bronco was a crude rig, but we never realized that,
It had manual hubs, no A/C, tiny wing window vents...not dash vents, crank windows, manual locks, no CC, etc.,
People weren’t spoiled yet by plush, fully automatic vehicles,
We were aware that we were driving and in control of the vehicle,
Now we’re headed to self driving cars...

But it was a different world then.
 
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