William Clay, along with his chief engineer, Harley Copp, felt that a retactable hardtop was just a novel enough idea to put the upcoming Continental Mark II on the map, so the company set aside $2.19 million for the Special Projects Division to perfect this unique idea. This division was founded in 1952 to develop the Continental Mark II. Spear found a supporter in William Clay Ford, who headed Ford’s Special Projects Division. Deriving his inspiration from the Chrysler Thunderbolt, Ford’s Gil Spear made a number of retractable hardtop sketches in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. did not invent the retractable hardtop, it was the first automaker to mass produce it.
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