Time for a new CC topic. Do you think the hardtop changes the way a convertible is seen and driven? What are some of the positives and negatives of this one of a kind vehicle trim? Personally I think the hardtop easily transforms the look of a convertible into that of a coupe, which can be a good thing as far as looking attractive on the outside. However, looking at it from a design perspective, the lines of a retractable hardtop do not look as consistent as from a coupe (think Benz SLK vs. BMW M3)

BTW does anyone know which hardtop convertible was the first one made? Methinks it is the Benz SLK from the mid-to-late '90s, but perhaps there's another one made from earlier.

 

IMO, the only disadvantage of a hardtop convertible is the loss in trunk space. I'll never buy a ragtop after owning the SC430. However, if I want a fun performance car, I'll always opt for a lighter regular coupe.

This thread has a link about Hardtop convertible models & some history : https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...p+convertibles

 

I believe the Convertible Hardtop on the Mitsu GTO was introduced a bit earlier than the SLK.

 

First one I remember was the Mitsu 3000 Spyder -->>CLICK


I have a Hardtop for my S2000. It's a pain b/c you have to store it and you need 2 people to put it on. So I leave it on all winter. It has better visibility b/c it's got much more rear glass area. I don't think the folding HT is as good looking and probably doesn't have the same rear window as a true HT.

 

The link in SexySC's thread lists the Toyota Soarer Aerocabin.



Interesting.

 

Convertible Hardtops were started MUCH earlier than the 90's. I can't say with any certainty that this car was the first, but the 1957 Ford Galaxie 500 Skyliner Convertible featured a retractible power hardtop convertible. If power/retractibility is not a concern, you can go back to the earliest Corvetts with removable hardtops.

 

Yeah, what about the Ford Fairlane <remember the Dice Clay movie?>

 

Yes...the 1957-1959 Ford Skyliners were the first production cars with this feature....although Lincoln, I believe, used it for a year or two during the same time period on the Mark II convertible.
The difference between this system and the later systems we saw in the early 1990's with the Mitsubishi sports cars and still later with the Mercedes SLK / SL, SC430, and Cadillac XLR is that the Ford system used in the 1950's lifted the ENTIRE roof up in ONE PIECE, swung it back, and lowered it in the trunk.....which was not all that difficult considering the HUGE trunks on the average car at that time. The roof panels did NOT fold like on today's versions.

 

I wouild like to add the Honda Sel Sol to the list. We did not get the auto convert like the JDM sold one

 

The Del Sol, IMO, was a semi-hardtop convertible, not a real hardtop convertible. It was basically a derivitive of the Buick, Pontiac, and Toyota MR2 T-Tops. It was the same general idea...you manually unclipped and unhooked the roof panel and stowed it in a carpet-lined pocket in the trunk. Unlike the T-Tops, though, the Del Sol just had one roof panel instead of two. Both the Del Sol and the T-Tops still had the rear window assembly in place, though, when the tops were off....and this was what separated them from real hardtop convertibles.
By the way, 1SICK, Honda never really perfected that design. Unlike most Honda products, Del Sols were plagued with squeaks, rattles, and roof leaks.....mostly due to the fact that unlike a T-Top, there was no bracing at all between front and rear when the roof panel was off, so you got a lot of cowl flex and body shake.(untypical of a Honda) A T-Top, at least, still has the center brace in place when the two panels are off, so you have some righdity left.
Honda body engineering had advanced quite a bit when the S2000 ....a real convertible.....came out, so it did not have many of the Del Sol's earlier problems

 

If this topic is referring to the true convertible forms, then I would say I had already seen a few hardtop convertibles even back in the 80s.

Cadillac Allante, for example, was a convertible that also came with a hard top.

Jon

 

Problem is.......it didn't come with a top that WORKED. Hopefully the new XLR will solve that problem.

 

Unfortunately, the XLR has yet to solve this problem as well.

There were threads on some car forums just a while ago indicating that the glass panel attached to the hardtop convertible would "fall off" because apparently, it was attached to the top via some type of glue.

Cadillac might have addressed this problem since then.

Jon

 

875 sold. I looked at the wrong line. 3,883 have been manufactured. About 3,000 are in dealer's lots, or about an average of 2 per dealer.

They almost sell 1 months worth of SC 430s for a years worth XLRs....