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The Re-Birth of the Glass Hatch
Apr 18 2008 by Sara Lacey
Cargo-Area Access Made Easy Returns
You know what? I didn't even notice that rear glass hatches had seemed to disappear until recently, when one showed up on my Toyota Highlander test vehicle. Again this week, I found one on the 2009 Honda Pilot. I didn't realize I'd missed it until I started using it again, and remembered how handy it can be.
I was reminded how our ancient International Harvester Scout had one; the handle on it was like one you'd find on a garage door. It was horizontal, and you turned it to open the hatch. When you lifted the hatch, it would stay propped open by the same kind of mechanism that today props open my kids' toy box. I recall that the hatch was freaking heavy, and the flimsy metal arms holding it up looked very uncertain. Tailgating was like Russian Roulette: We'd sit on the back and wait for the day when the hatch would drop on our unsuspecting heads.
Later in my youth, after the Scout got traded for a Jeep Wagoneer (yep, the one with the wood paneling) it finally happened. Except, this time, the glass hatch was more like a power window, and it would go up and down with the flip of a switch by the driver's seat or the turn of a key in the lock on the tailgate. The motor that moved the window broke, and, of course, it happened when we were on a ski vacation. My dad turned the key to roll the window down, but the motor broke and it just dropped and slammed into the bottom of the inside of the tailgate, shattering everywhere. We were skiing out of town, of course, and had to drive 750 miles home with something resembling plastic wrap where the rear window should have been.
My next glass hatch was on a Nissan Pathfinder I had after college. It was so handy, except I had a spare tire carrier on the back that I had to open every time to use either the hatch or the whole tailgate. Yeah, it wasn't very helpful after all. Plus, when it got cold, the hydraulic arms that held the hatch up wouldn't work so well. I'd open the hatch up and it would close on me. Of course, I never knew how quickly or slowly it would close on any given day.
Yeah, glass hatches. Handy. Good times. (Sips from her coffee mug. And — scene.)
User Comments
Isn’t all glass in cars tempered safety glass? If so, it can’t have a raw glass edge because it would break in the furnace while it was being tempered. It would have a soft ground edge, not a bad thing.
Thank the 1970s Pinto and AMC Gremlin for the glass hatch phenomonon.The 1982 Camaro/Firebird led it into the realm of shoddy design when the first few thousand cars sold had to be recalled when slammed hatches would shatter their glass (leaving the rest of the lid unattached).S10 Blazers had this design too,the metal surrounding the glass would rust away at an alarming rate,leaving a raw glass edge.Why manufacturers dabble in such flimsiness is beyond me.What was ever wrong with a fully surrounded and supported piece of glass….surrounded by real metal.