base of a foldable rear view mirror such that the keyboard is only visible and accessible when the mirror is in its folded or retractable position fig6 and fig7 are isometric views of a power foldable mirror assembly in its operational i e unfolded configuration and in its retracted i e folded configuration in accordance with the present invention referring first to fig7 a keypad 100 is mounted on base 62 and is visible when mirror housing 64 is retracted as can be seen when mirror 64 is in its unfolded position fig6 keyboard 100 is not visible and therefore not accessible also as stated previously it would be desirable that the mirror be folded or retracted when the vehicle is in a predetermined state of operation and that the mirror be foldable at the discretion of the operator referring to fig8 which is a block diagram of an apparatus for achieving the desired operation mirror actuator 102 which performs the near folding and unfolding functions is coupled to the vehicles prndl switch 104 and to the vehicles ignition switch 106 thus for example mirror actuator 102 may be activated to fold the mirror when the ignition switch is off and or when the vehicle is in park in a similar manner an internal fold control switch 108 may be provided for example on the dashboard of the vehicle may be activated by the operator of the vehicle from within the passenger compartment in addition an external fold control switch 110 may be provided on the exterior of the vehicle shown as being mounted on mirror housing 64 in fig6 and 7 may be provided to permit the operator to fold or retract the mirror at.