The germination for our next trope came from some comments made on my sliding sunroof history post a while back. To draw attention to the then-new sliding sunroof, advertisers would frequently pose models standing through the sunroof, as if to say “Hey lookie here! There is a hole in the roof!”
The problem with this trope becomes evident once you think about it. For starters, what practical reason would someone actually need to do this? Well find out it the images below, but spoiler alert: They are all pretty contrived.
The sunroof of most cars lines up with the seatback of the front seat, and not the footwell, and is not really intended to be stood through. In order to do so, you have to assume one of the following contorted positions:
- Stand on the seat cushion, which is designed for sitting, not standing. (Please remove your shoes first)
- Sit on the seatback which again is not designed to be sat on.
- Kneel on the seat cushion, which means only your head and shoulders can protrude through the sunroof opening.
The ad for this 1973 Dodge Dart Sport neatly demonstrates two of these positions, even going so far as to provide a diagram to show how it is done. The lady on the line drawing is standing on the seat, while the one in the lower photo appears to be sitting on the seatback. The car also happens to be parked on a ski slope, a trope that will be covered in a future installment.
This 1960 Thunderbird ad shows a model presumably kneeling on the seat cushion.
This next 1960 Thunderbird Ad left me speechless. Why, pray tell, is the woman (wearing a full-length mink coat) standing through an open sunroof, filming a US Marine ceremony? An overly proud (and well-heeled) mother who is also too lazy to get out of the car and walk?
This 1969 Thunderbird ad features a double exposure: Not one, but two pictures of sticking out the sunroof, sitting on the seatback in this case.
Much like the 1969 Thunderbird, Cadillac leaned into its sunroof option in a big way in 1970. It was clear the advertisers had no idea what to do with the sunroof other than stand someone through it, as demonstrated in the next several ads. For the ad above, it would seem that they are trying to imply some sort of association with skiing, but I’m not sure what that has to do with standing through your sunroof.
The next ad shows a gentleman carrying a horse saddle, while the woman in the sunroof is holding what appears to be an equestrian helmet. Again, I’m not sure what any of this has to do with standing through your sunroof. Maybe sitting on a seatback perched through the sunroof opening is a little bit like riding a horse? Having never done either activity, I really wouldn’t know.
The final Cadillac ad for 1970: Look – three open sunroofs! And someone sitting on the seatback sticking their head out, in case you somehow missed it. By the way, did we forget to mention the sunroof?
Here we see a woman kneeling on the seat, looking out through the open sunroof in her 1972 LTD for no particular reason. As silly as it seems, this is probably actually better than trying to contrive a bizarre scene, as Cadillac did earlier.
Another trope two-fer! Someone standing through an open sunroof on this 1974 Plymouth Duster, while parked on a golf course! All that is missing is the swimming pool.
This trope seems to have mostly died off by the mid-1970s as people have gotten used to the concept of a sunroof, just like you don’t see people standing in open convertibles to call attention to the fact that there is no roof.
Well, Tom, you have succeeded in bringing back to us the ridiculous. Regarding the mink coat mom in the T-bird. Who would let her get that close to the marching field? Looks like the weather was perfect for the mink coat, too. Have any of us tried to stand up and through the roof of our sunroof equipped vehicles? Do you really want to put your soles of your shoes on the upholstery of your car? Great fun today and many thanks.
The truly ridiculous fantasy of that ad: In the Sixties (even the pre-Vietnam Sixties) no mother that well off was going to let her kid end up in the Marines. That’s for the sons from the other side of the tracks.
I actually remember trying to stand through the open sunroof – I can’t remember why; practicing emergency escapes? – and quickly learned it was very uncomfortable. The opening isn’t very large, and I had to straddle the center console and seat bolsters. It may have been easier back in the bench-seat era.
Well you OBVIOUSLY can’t put your butt on the roof and dangle your legs through the sunroof opening. You’ll put a big butt sized dent in the roof. 😬
I have seen a couple of live commercials (one for Valero Gasoline) where the sunroof is open and the driver and front seat passenger wave their hands and arms out of the sunroof opening while driving. That seems more likely.
And once I succumbed to the urge and popped myself up through the open sunroof of my friend’s car (a Lexus SC300) to play “Tank Commander” while he was driving.
And I was much too old to say I was young and stupid then. 😏
“Well you OBVIOUSLY can’t put your butt on the roof and dangle your legs through the sunroof opening. You’ll put a big butt sized dent in the roof. ”
Oh yeah?
That young lady appears to be 10 years old, a mere waif of a girl. Big ol’ me trying that trick would imprint the roof, big old Mopar or not. 😆
I guess they had to really make the point that it was an opening and not just a glass roof.
Next trope – riding in a convertible with both arms up. It’s not a roller coaster!
The Renault LeCar ads used to amuse me.
Had it not been for the sunroof in my LeCar I’d never have been able to carry an unassembled queen sized waterbed from the store to my place.
Folding sunroofs were the best: bigger, no mechanics to jam, no drains to clog, they just worked.
Do dudes ever get to poke their head through the sunroof? The sheepdog seems to enjoy it.
I used to let my late golden retriever hang her head out of the window.
One very expensive vet bill for an eye infection brought that practice to an end.
Only rarely. This isn’t an ad, but the man in the picture is Heinz Prechter, the founder of American Sunroof Corporation. (This picture was also in Tom’s earlier sunroof article.)
Here is the real question: has there ever been a car (say up through the 70s) that featured a sunroof in an ad where there wasn’t at least one picture in one year of that model where someone stood up through it? In a quick sampling, I found standing-through-the-sunroof ads for VW, Studebaker (1962 Skytop) and AMC models in a “free sunroof” promotion.
As heavily promoted as sunroofs were on American cars in the 1960s and early 70s, I am not sure I ever saw one at the time – certainly not one that was owned by anyone I knew. The VW Bug was another story – the crank steel sunroof was reasonably popular on those.
The VW Bug was another story – the crank steel sunroof was reasonably popular on those.
Before the steel roof, VW had a fabric sunroof. A high school classmate of mine had an early 60s Bug with the fabric roof. Operation was dead simple, and faster than cranking the steel roof.
From grade 3 to 8 we had a daily oral French lesson. The classes were taught by several teachers fluent in French who drove from school to school. We took a bus to school and one day on the way home one of our favourite teachers drove up behind the bus while it was stopped at a light. This was around 1960 and he drove a blue Volvo 544 with sunroof, which was rather unusual. He somehow stood up so that his upper body was above the roof and enthusiastically waved his arms at us. It really made an impression on all of us 10 year olds.
Sent from my iPad
I believe that the chrome strip across the back of that light blue Duster makes it a 1975 or 76.
Great post. Made me think of Tom Hanks standing in the sunroof in the limo in the movie Big.
That was Mean Mary Jean, by the way – who was caught buying a new Pontiac.
There’s something else one can do with a sunroof, as demonstrated in this clip from Caddyshack.
Looks like I had trouble reading instructions (“JPEG only” image attachments). Here’s the GIF of the scene, for those who haven’t seen the movie.
https://tenor.com/view/caddyshack-vomit-sick-puke-car-gif-5467316
Better Call Saul’s infamous “Chicago Sunroof” is the (slightly) worse version of this.
“he drove a pearlescent white BMW 7-series, with a white leather interior….”
Since the Bentley MK VI and it’s much rarer Rolls-Royce cousin the Silver Dawn came standard with a sunroof, I thought it might be appropriate to include this shot of yours truly standing up thru the sunroof of my 1952 Silver Dawn, as the factory would never have allowed such a stunt for their advertising.
This was the main photo for a Washington Post Sunday Magazine article about my vintage Rolls-Royce limo service, Fantasy Limousine. Standing up thru the sunroof was the photographer’s idea. I was not thrilled with the concept, but he persisted, explaining it would likely result in the photo being chosen as the lead-in for the annual wedding issue, and he was correct.
I did remove my shoes, and as the seat surfaces were supple leather, I wasn’t worried about damaging the seat.
Here’s an Audi Fox brochure image featuring a Trope Twofer: Hunting (rarely portrayed in ads any longer) and women standing in sunroofs:
Given the eventual fate of the prey, fox hunting seems like a flawed image to use in an advertisement for this particular Audi model.
He has a chagrin on his face as in, “Yo, you’ll get dog s**t on the seats”.
Dude in the Duster ad looks like his golf game don’t get no respect…
Hey – did you find anyone standing through a t-top?
I bet you haven’t!
So why not?
If these ladies want to stand through a sun-roof for not practical reasons, why wouldn’t we have seen ladies standing through t-tops?
Why is there a difference? Safety? It really bugs me now.
Perhaps it is because T-tops are easy to spot from a side view of the car, whereas sunroofs aren’t and therefore need to be highlighted.
FOUND ONE
lets try that again!
Ah those “magical leaking t-tops”!!
Leaky sunroofs had been around for decades by the 70s possibly not on American cars but upscale British cars featured sliding head type roofs in the 30s, they were an excellent way to promote rust as the drainage tubes blocked up, welding them shut and leading over the seams was a popular cure.
I’ve noticed in vintage mopar brochures that a vinyl roof was mandatory for sunroofs. Does anyone know why?
Run up the price?
Random thoughts:
My ’83 T-Bird’s aftermarket sunroof was used by my girlfriend at the time to allow extra headroom one night for…. wait, this is a family show…
My ’88 T-Bird was used in a very similar manner to the featured ’69 T-Bird ad. My friend and I went out on the night of Comet Hyakutake’s closes approach to Earth back in 1996. We went out to a dark sky site in Northern Baltimore County and pulled into a farmer’s field. With binoculars in hand, we reclined the power seats, rolled back the top, and bam… Instant mobile observatory….
And even my first car wasn’t immune from this trope, although I can honestly say I have NEVER EVER seen a ’73 LTD (in the metal) with a sunroof like the picture from the brochure below….
Maybe the point was to emphasize something that made the sunroof ‘better’ than what it was supposed to replace: the convertible. With the latter, it would be much harder to stand or sit (at least from the front seat) with the top down.
Then, too, convertibles were big parade cars. Hell, Cadillac even offered a hard-shell convertible boot upon which riders could sit.
And, there on my dining room automotively themed wall hangs a collaged frame, one photo in which is ME standing (I guess) on the front seat of my ’56 VW rolltop, boldly protruding through the opening, elbow assertively on roof. This was whilst in Uncle Sam’s Army, Germany, 1965. I guess I wanted to show the folks back home how clever these beetles were, & how clever I was to have one. Plus I look a lot taller, & just a bit younger then. Where’d the years go? Phew.
One practical application for standing through the sunroof is cleaning/polishing/waxing the roof itself, you get 360° access to all corners all at arms reach. Much better than trying that from the ground reaching over the car pressing yourself against the sides and switching sides constantly.
I guess I was heavily influenced by these old ads as I posed myself in my 1978 Ford Fiesta S circa 1984 in a similar way…although I took it further and actually sat on the roof! Those Fiestas were sturdy in spite of their 1800lb wt!
One of the more interesting facets of the Mk1 Fiesta’s sunroof was how they came equipped with ‘two’ flip-up/removable sunroof panels: the typical dark tinted plexiglas version, and then an additional steel, body-colored panel.
Could never really figure that one out, but I guess it’s no different from the multiple top options for the Corvette and Jeep Wrangler.
Yup, they came with a solid metal panel or all glass panel, but no sun cover, so the idea was the use the metal one for full shade. I used the metal one in winter as it seemed to help keep the interior warmer vs the thinner glass.
(1/2) This was a thing:
(2/2) and the only equipped car I’m aware of is a Swiss-built 4-door:
Joie de vivre.
Absolument!
I thought of “Jaws” from “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “Moonraker” fame when I saw these ridiculous ads.
At least he had a reason for sticking his head through the roof.
I also thought of the ejection seat in “Goldfinger”.
Another great and amusing topic. I love the double-exposure ads and remember seeing them in old National Geographic magazines my parents had saved and eventually tossed. You’re absolutely right – it’s an unnatural thing to be standing through the sunroof / moonroof. Whenever I’ve seen this in TV shows or movies, I’m like, nope. The driver would be so annoyed with the placement of the standees legs…
A similar trope is seen in those annoying ads that feature “care free” retirees. Usually there is a couple in a vintage convertible and the woman in the passenger seat stands up and sticks her arms out like an airplane.
I love sunroofs, especially glass moonroofs. I’ve had several cars with them in the past, and I’ve currently got two vehicles with them. Add in two convertibles and that’s a lot of open air motoring. There are benefits to living in California.
I even miss my “convertible” here on the east coast!
The trope still attracts: Lindsay Lohan in a Beetle and Xi Jinping in a Hongqi.
Interesting feature.
I like the red Dodge Dart Sport ad. We had the exact same model and colour sans sunroof and white side stripe. Another one I wish I still had. Then when I saw the 72 LTD I wondered how many buyers would have sprung for such an option in their 2-door LTD?
My first car was a Fiat 500 which had a tiny sunroof. Going to a School Disco (those were the days) my best chum Brian decided he was going to stand up on the seat. He then ripped off a beer bottle top with his teeth and suitably imbibed decided he was taking part in a Nuremberg rally. Which might have been fine if it wasn’t 1974 Belfast and around the next corner the road stood an Army check point. We were late to the disco.
I like sunroofs, but admittedly don’t use them much. But this little burg I live in has a car show and cruise the night before every year and lots of people sticking up thru the sunroof. Speeds are generally 10-15 MPH except for the few that occasionally try a burnout, so safety isn’t really an issue. Just take your shoes off and stand on the seat!