Hoover Convertible Hood Design - 1970's One Piece

[eurekaprince]

Hi all - especially Hoover expert John!!!

I've always liked the sleek redesign Hoover did for their Convertible uprights in the early 1970's.

But it seems that the company introduced two versions of the "new" one-piece hood - one where the fins reach right down to the front corners of the hood (narrower headlight) and another version for the "Convertible Elite" where the front nose is flatter and the headlight is wider.

I've seen catalogue / advertisement pics showing both versions in the same shot....circa 1973/74. And even the model numbers seem to cross over between the two hood designs (U4009, U4007) with no rhyme or reason.

My questions: did one version debut earlier than the other? Why were there two versions brought out so close to one another? What were the years (release/discontinued) for each design? Why did one design prevail over the other one?

I actually prefer the Convertible Elite version with the wider headlight. But it seems this version was short-lived - any idea why?

Curious EurekaPrince

 

[hooveru4089]

The full hood, aka "ranger hood" models were both introduced as part of the same lineup from 1973-75, which featured the U4003, U4005, U4007 and U4009.

 

[hooveru4089]

The narrower headlight style hood was used on the very last Convertible ever made, the U4497-900 from around 1990 (which I own). I believed the flatter style was discontinued in the early '80s.