Everything old is new again, right?

Just ask GMC, which has revived an idea Studebaker used 41 years ago to increase sagging sales.

Studebaker introduced a redesigned Lark sedan and station wagon in 1963 -- the Wagonaire wagon. It had a sliding rear roof, wind-down rear window and fold-down tailgate.

The result was that Mom and Dad could bring home the new Frigidaire by themselves, because the sky was the limit in the cargo area.

Fast forward to the 2002 Miami Beach auto show, where GMC Envoy XUV marketing manager Janet Kelly walked up to a cutaway model with power operated rear roof, two-way tailgate with power-window and drop-down divider between cargo area and rear seat with another power window. And the Envoy XUV retains its power moonroof over the front seats.

The answer to a question no one asked?

No, a desire to fulfill a need for extra versatility from sport-utility vehicle owners, she said.

"They really want one vehicle that provides them with everyday comfort and capability while also giving them extra versatility. More people want a vehicle that is as multi-faceted as their life," she said, adding Buick and Chevrolet won't get the sliding roof feature.

"It's actually big enough to actually hold a lot of different things. You can put in an upright refrigerator, an armoire or any furniture you picked up at a flea market. You can put in a tree you picked up from a nursery. With the power-sliding rear roof, the possibilities are endless," she said.

The Envoy XUV is the new extended wheelbase version of the 2-year-old Chevrolet TrailBlazer/Envoy/Isuzu Ascender with third-row seating. The super-size 207.8-inch XUV is 16.5 inches longer than the regular-size Envoy/Ascender/TrailBlazer, and 24.5 inches longer than the Blazer and GMC Jimmy they replaced. But the XUV deletes the third-row seat for a tailgate (with power window) that can open down or sideways like my Dad's old Mercury Colony Park station wagon.

"With the rear power window in any position, I actually can swing the tailgate with one hand," Kelly said. "Depending on where I grab the handle, on the left or center, the electronics will tell it which hinge to operate."

The power-sliding rear roof makes a 32-inch by 32-inch opening wide enough to carry tall stuff. Then there is a power window in the Midgate behind the rear seats.

"Oh, cool, there's a window in here, so if you carry any pets, they can't jump in," said our 9-year-old.

Drop it, flip and fold the 70/30 rear seats, and the Midgate can fold flat with one button and a tug. You get 95.2-cubic-feet of storage space, room for multiple 4-foot x 8-foot sheets of plywood, or in our case, a 7-foot-tall kid's basketball hoop set and an adult's bicycle with tailgate shut.

The rear cargo floor is weather-resistant with a drain that allows you to hose it out. The cargo area has four tie-down rings that can be moved to any of 12 different locations, with another four fixed tie-down rings on the roof. And you can drop or open the windows and roof with the key in the tailgate, while there is an air compressor and rear-hatch release back there too.

Now, there are some concerns.

First, you can't open or close the power roof while in motion. Sometimes, we couldn't open or close the Midgate and rear windows together -- another safety interlock, I guess. And when we grabbed the tailgate to close it, my right hand grabbed the rear wiper instead, a sure recipe for breaking the wiper arm, as had happened to the demo model at the recent Jacksonville auto show.

Outwardly, the Envoy XUV doesn't look much different from the seven-passenger XL, although it does look a bit long in the rear door.

The chrome-trimmed six-bar grille is flanked by large headlights that wrap into the flared fenders. The doors tuck in between the flared fenders, which frame six-spoke polished alloy wheels wearing Michelin P245/ 65R17 radials. The C-pillar is a bit thick, the rear-side window sitting higher than the door windows.

Inside, a familiar gray dash awaits the driver, who sits on a flat leather-covered bucket seat with eight-way power adjustment and power lumbar, its two memory presets also holding Driver 1 or 2's stereo and power mirror preferences.

The tilt-adjustable steering wheel frames a clear silver-trimmed gauge package with central 120-mph speedometer flanked by a 7,000-rpm tach on the left and gas, temperature, oil pressure and voltage gauges on the right.

A large satellite navigation/stereo display screen with control buttons port and starboard sits dash center stage. Listen to XM Satellite Radio, and the display offers you the station on the right of the display next to their selector buttons, and the song and singer on the center of the display. The satellite navigation joystick control was fiddly and tough to use if you needed to type in an address. That said, the stereo sounded great, and other than a five-minute space where the map DVD hiccuped, the sat-nav worked well. Overhead, three HomeLink buttons and sunroof/Midgate window/rear window/rear roof power controls.

Rear-seat accommodations are good for two. But the seat cushion is angled down a bit too much at the rear, and you will want to ride with the Midgate window shut to keep down the wind noise.

Power to the people who own an Envoy XUV includes a standard 275-horsepower Vortec 4200 inline six-cylinder engine, which can tow 5,800 pounds in two-wheel-drive version or 5,706 pounds with the four-wheel-drive model. An optional 290-hp Vortec 5300 V-8 can tow up to 6,500 pounds.

Our 7,700-mile-old rear-wheel-drive, 275-hp six was civilized for around-town driving, but had to work hard and somewhat noisily to pass anything quickly. We managed a 0-60-mph run in 9.2 seconds vs. 8 seconds for the regular wheelbase model.

The ride is comfortable on smooth roads, but gets a bit bouncy when potholes show up, and you feel the added (about 140 pounds) weight of the roof mechanism.

Our Envoy XUV's base price was ,840 with standard in-line six, transmission oil cooler, alarm, OnStar, power rear roof, Midgate with power window and power tailgate window, power driver's seat, keyless entry, power windows, locks and mirrors, leather seats and cruise control. Options were the SLT package with rain-sensing wipers and Bose Premium sound system; ,995 satellite navigation system; sunroof; load-leveling suspension with compressor; polished alloy wheels; side-impact air bags; XM Satellite radio; locking differential; traction assist and electrically adjustable pedals. With destination fee, our XUV's manufacturer's suggested retail price was ,215.

Bottom line -- the idea of a Midgate with power window, a rear power window and a power roof turns an ordinary SUV into a Swiss Army Knife of cargo options. It isn't the crispest driving truck out there, and you may wish the added cargo room could be turned into more seats. But if you need versatility hauling people and cargo with just the touch of some buttons, this is the only game in town.