Automotive vehicle with repositionable D-pillar roof structure

An automotive vehicle body, comprising:

• a plurality of passenger access doors;
• opposing quarter panels extending rearwardly from the locations of at least two of said access doors;
• a tailgate attached to said body adjacent the trailing portions of said quarter panels;
• a motor-driven, repositionable D-pillar roof structure slidingly engaged with said quarter panels and with a fixed roof panel, with said D-pillar roof structure being movable from a first position adjacent said tailgate to a second position forward of said tailgate;
• a motor-driven backlite having at least an open position in which said backlite is retracted within said tailgate, a closed position in which the backlite extends between said tailgate and said D-pillar structure, and a traveling position in which the backlite is released from said tailgate and carried upon and translationally movable with said D-pillar structure;
• and
• a plurality of motor-driven retractable quarter window panels, with each of said panels having a first position within a window opening in said D-pillar structure and a second position within a mating one of said quarter panels at a location above a roadwheel.

A method for operating a sliding D-pillar roof structure in an automotive vehicle, comprising the steps of:

• raising a backlite from a tailgate and into an immobilized position within a sliding D-pillar roof structure;
• lowering a plurality of generally horizontal quarter window panels from positions within said D-pillar roof structure and into stored positions within housings contained within opposing quarter panels above roadwheels associated with said quarter panels;
• and
• sliding said D-pillar roof structure, incorporating said backlite, forwardly upon a first set of tracks carried by said quarter panels and a second set of tracks carried by a fixed roof panel.