Ford's full-size wagons for 1966 took the conventional tailgate and disappearing window a step further. The rear section was made to open either downwards like a regular tailgate, or like a door, outward from the curb side. The window had to be retracted for either operation. This was called the "Magic Doorgate". For 1969, Ford made another innovation by allowing the glass to stay up when the door was opened sideways, thus creating the "Three-Way Magic Doorgate" (engineered by Donald N. Frey[19] ). This versatile style quickly caught on and became a fixture on full-size and intermediate wagons from GM, Ford, and Chrysler. GM, however, added a notch in the rear bumper that acted as a step plate; to fill the gap, a small portion of bumper was attached to the doorgate. When opened as a swinging door, this part of the bumper moved away, allowing the depression in the bumper to provide a "step" to ease entry; when the gate was opened by being lowered or raised to a closed position, the chrome section remained in place making the bumper "whole".
