New Puegeot can easily lose its head

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

It's all to do with the roof, the reason why Peugeot describes its new 206CC as "two cars in one" - a hard-top coupe one minute, a convertible the next.

As a coupe, the car's hard top is made of two snug-fit steel panels linked to electro-hydraulic arms and struts. The first panel forms the roof. The second panel holds the heated rear window, its framework and rear window pillars.

The car becomes a convertible once a couple of catches above the windscreen are unlocked by hand.

A button on the centre console fires an electric motor that swings the two roof panels into synchronised action, opening and folding them like the movements of a mime artist and tucking them into a rear boot lid, clean as a whistle. It takes 30 seconds.

The mechanically retractable hard-top roof is not new. The 1940 Chrysler Thunderbolt had one; so did the 1957 Ford Fairlane Skyliner. The latest Mercedes-Benz SLK 200 has one, too.

But Peugeot says it was the first in 1934 with the 401D, a limited edition called the Eclipse Coupe-Convertible, penned and patented in 1933 by Paris dentist Georges Paulin. Small engines powered by electricity from the car's battery helped to fold a sheet metal roof back into the boot in just 15 seconds.

The 401D was replaced in 1936 by the 402 IIcv, a similar hard-top convertible, which broke round in Europe for its aerodynamics.

The model was discontinued in 1939 after 700 were built. One is on show in the Peugeot Museum today. Paulin never lived long enough to enjoy the status of his creation. He joined the French Resistance at the outbreak of the Second World War and was later captured and shot by the Nazis.

The 206CC is based on the GTi hatchback. It comes with a choice of 1.6-litre or 2-litre four-cylinder engine, the smaller engine mated to an automatic gearbox, the larger to a five-speed manual. Both cars cost $40,000.

Peugeot launched its executive 607 model at the same time. It is powered by a 3-litre V6, has every available electronic gizmo going and costs $84,900.