WEIRD & WONDERFUL WINDOWS
01 Peugeot RCZ
The original TT was a styling classic, but Audi never really innovated it afterwards. Peugeot was brave enough to fit a double bubble roof and humped rear window which apparently improved airflow over the RCZ. And gave it some properly head turning clout.
02 Citroen C6
The beautiful Citroen C6 was the last big luxury barge to wear the double chevron badge before ‘DS’ became a thing. The inwardly curved glass allowed Citroen to design a conventional saloon-booted car with the sleekier profile of a hatchback. Who needs a rear wiper?
03 Chevy Corvette Stingray C2
The second-gen Corvette’s split rear window may have been inspired by the iconic ‘spine’ of the Bugatti 57SC, but the Stingray’s interpretation is arguably the more famous. It only appeared on the 1963 car, being phased out the following year due to complaints over the shoddy rear visibility.
04 Maybach 62
The strangle mullion window sunroof atop the first Maybach comeback was something of a technological triumph: glass which could change colour. At the touch of a button, the rear seat passengers could turn the window from clear to a dark blue opaque tint, to block out the sun.
05 Volkswagen Beetle
Think ‘split screen Volkswagen’ and most folks will scroll to a mental image of the famous windscreens on the T2 microbus, but the Beetle began life with two back windows. It switched from a split to single rear window in 1953, for easier production and better rear visibility.
06 Land Rover Defender
Yes, you could fold down the windscreen on the earlier cars. But that’s not the window we’re interested in here. The Defender’s ‘safari windows’, placed around the tumblehome roof curve, gave extra visibility in the rear. LR saw fit to bring them back for the current Defender too.
07 Peel Trident
Why even bother with a roof when you can build a car that’s just all window? The Peel P50’s sporty sister car was a goldfish bowl on three wheels, with the whole front of the body hinging forward to allow access to the somewhat stuffy single-seat cockpit.
08 Nissan Cube
Another novel idea in window design was putting more of them on one side of a car than another. Enter the Nissan Cube. A mini MPV based on the Micra, the third-gen car made it to the UK, sporting an asymmetric bodyshell with chunky pillars to the left and wraparound glass to the right.
09 Vauxhall Astra Panoramic
In the mid-Noughties, Vauxhall looked at its humdrum Astra and wondered “Why do windscreens have to stop at the roof?” So, along came the Astra Panoramic. An Astra that was less metal, more glass. Citroen copied the XXL screen for its C3 and C4 Picasso models later on.