an outside of the vehicle, a pair of front and rear sliders slidably mounted on the guide rail, respectively, so as to slide in a longitudinal direction for supporting front and rear ends of a sliding lid for opening and closing the opening; links that can be erected and flattened out provided between the respective sliders and the sliding lid for vertically moving the end portions of the sliding lid, the sliders being moved in a longitudinal direction by driving means so as to move the sliding lid between a fully closed position where the sliding lid closes the opening and an opened position where the sliding lid is lowered from the fully closed position and is slid rearward to be stored below the roof; first guiding meansfor guiding a first sliding member protruding from a side of the link and vertically moving the front end of the sliding lid, the first guiding means being provided on one of opposed surfaces of the first side wall and the second side wall; and second guiding means for guiding a second sliding member protruding from a side of the link and vertically moving the rear end of the sliding lid, the second guiding means being provided on the other opposed surface.
Still further, there is provided a method for opening and closing a sliding lid for opening and closing an opening formed in a roof of a vehicle, comprising the steps of: lowering the sliding lid at a rear end thereof a predetermined distance from a fully closed