When Ford introduced the all-steel Hide-Away Hardtop in 1957, it was the engineering marvel of the age—and we still think it’s pretty cool. This great little video breaks down the action.

As we’ve noted before, Ford didn’t really originate the all-steel, retracting-roof  convertible. Numerous forerunners include the Peugeot 402 Éclipse Décapotable, Chrysler Thunderbolt, and Allard Dolphin. But Ford gets the credit for developing the feature for volume production, and at a price with appeal to the mass market. At introduction, the 1957 Skyliner listed at $2,942, some $337 more than the $2,605 Sunliner, Ford’s otherwise similar fabric-top convertible.

The Ford system involved more complications, if we may borrow a watchmaker’s term. While previous retracting metal roofs were compact, one-piece units, the Skyliner’s much larger hardtop is made up of two sections that fold up as they retract into the trunk area. (Project engineers called the front roof section a “flipper.”) The deck lid is articulated as well, with its own flipper at the leading edge. Ford didn’t cut any corners: There were seven electric motors, 10 solenoids and limit switches, 13 relays, and 610 feet of wiring. Early development was conducted on the blank-check Continental Mark II program, then shifted to the Ford passenger car line so the considerable cost could be amortized over a much larger production volume.

Was the Hide-Away Hardtop a success? Yes and no, we equivocate. In the three production years (1957-59) Ford sold more than 48,000 Skyliners, and the tricky mechanism functioned well in the field, all things considered. But in that same period, Ford sold 150,000 conventional cloth-top convertibles, and at a far greater profit, no doubt, as the retractable steel top added more than 400 lbs of extra components and complexity. But the Skyliner did pave the way for future retractables from Mercedes, Pontiac, Lexus, and so many others. We can study the magic in motion in the video below.