Rear door assembly

A rear door assembly, comprising:

• a vehicle body structure having a roof, a side wall and a rear bumper fascia, the vehicle body structure defining a rear door opening;
• a movable rear door;
• and
• a four-bar linkage assembly supporting the rear door for movement between a door closed orientation covering the rear door opening and a cavity, and a door open orientation exposing the rear door opening such that in the open orientation a bottom edge of the rear door is located above the roof and is even with the rearward most area of the rear bumper fascia, the four-bar linkage including at least an extender and a rearward member, the extender having a lower end attached to the side wall, the rearward member having a projection with an upper end of the extender attached to the projection such that extensible movement of the extender causes corresponding movement of the rearward member thereby urging the rear door upward.

A rear door assembly, comprising:

• a vehicle body structure having a roof, a side wall and a rear bumper fascia, the vehicle body structure defining a rear door opening;
• a movable rear door;
• and
• a four-bar linkage assembly supporting the rear door for movement between a door closed orientation covering the rear door opening and a cavity, and a door open orientation exposing the rear door opening such that in the door open orientation a bottom edge of the rear door is located above the roof and is forward of the rearward most area of the rear bumper fascia, the four-bar linkage including at least an extender and a rearward member, the extender having a lower end attached to the side wall, the rearward member having a projection with a second ball stud mounted thereon, an upper end of the extender attached to the second ball stud such that extensible movement of the extender causes corresponding movement of the rearward member thereby urging the rear door upward.