Whoa! Where Did March Go? Through the Jeep roof maybe?

Time flies when you're traveling (to the UK and back since the last post--nice little London hotel review to follow, plus my latest tips on coping with airline security--hint: you can only carry one bag onto a plane flying out of London, repeat one bag, not a roll-on plus computer, one bag, regardless of cabin class or carrier).

And how the wind flies in the Springtime when you're having fun in an open top vehicle. My wife loved her Mercedes SL 500 and her SLKs, the 230 and then the 320. I loved to be driven in them, top up or down. But alas no room for the dog. Poor doggy (and sometimes Stephen when the doggy took precedence).

Now stable-mate Jeep comes to the rescue. The latest iteration of the Jeep Liberty is to offer something a friend of mine has sought for years: a roll-back roof (as described at the autoblog).

"One of the most-talked about options [on the '08 Liberty) will be the power-operated sliding roof, called Sky Slider. While most automakers offer a sunroof, the Liberty's canvas roof runs nearly the length of the vehicle. It can be opened from front to back or from back to front."

Not that this is new--anyone familiar with French autos knows they have long sported variations on this idea, back as far as the Citreon Deux Cheveux at least. However, none of them are over here, and none of them are in a serious off-road/around-town vehicle like the Liberty (disclaimer: we own a 2005 Jeep Liberty Diesel that we like quite a lot).

My friend's wish was for a rugged vehicle able to accommodate wife and two kids in comfort and tour around with the roof open. The 2008 Liberty with the Sky Slider looks to be about the only contender in that category.
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