by Wallace Wyss
It seemed so wonderful. First the convertible top, which for decades was satisfactory. All one piece, at first you had to lift it by hand but eventually a push button allowed you to lower it or raise it.
Then some cars added a hard metal or plastic top cover for when it was down and that was spring loaded to open at first then became burdened with motors to lift that lid.
Then the parts that attached to the windshield, wouldn’t you know the automakers wanted gizmos to attach that? I’ve lost track now. Are we up to three motors?
When they got the idea of putting a retractable soft-top under an entire body panel like the ’64 Thunderbird, ya gotta admit, it was magnificent the way it hid the top completely. But how many of those mid-’60s T-bids have top problems?
Ford Thunderbird Sports-Roadster
Then you come to the retractable hardtop. It wasn’t enough that they lift the entire top out and then erect it (or connect the parts) but they robbed you of trunk space because parking the retracted top in the trunk took a whole lotta room. What made it worse was when the tops had different pieces that were joined together once erected to form a roof. Each different section had its own motors to lift or retract it.
Now how many motors did they need? One for the front part which connects to the windshield frame. One to extend that last portion, one for the back of the roof that joins the front, one for the lid.
Triumph TR6
Well why did I develop a deep fear of such a wonderful set of open air aids? Because an idle activity of mine is to look at convertibles for sale. But for many of them, I am horrified when I see how many motors are used to put the tops up and down and then go to a website to see if this particular car has any problems , say you type in “Lexus hardtop problems” or “Buick Cascada top problems” or “VW EOS roof problems” etc. and you get a long list of ailments. Then I think back when convertible tops were all one piece.
I put part of the blame on why these tops were mechanized on women who thought it would make it easier or men marketers who thought “We’ll make it all push button, m’lady will never have to touch the top.”
But now we’ve got thousands of used car models, of many makes, where the tops not only break continuously but the dealers shy away from them. I remember when the Nissan Moreno convertible came out, a cute SUV but dealers have no parts for the top whatsoever and turn them away . Oh they will sell you a replacement top –for $10,000!
Ford Fairlane
So now my search for a ragtop might force me to get one with:
1.) a cloth top
2.) a top requiring one motor
3.) a top that can be deployed or lowered down by hand if need be
I think the genesis was a combination of the automakers thinking let’s-make-this-easy and let’s come up with an option we can charge $10,000 for. That led to the retractables but now the cars are cursed. Joining an owners club might steer you to a local mechanic that’s got the system in that particular model down pat.
I hate it but it’s progress, right?
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss is a fine art painter depicting classic cars.
Can’t go wrong with a MAZDA MIATA!!!!
My 1956 Corvette was simple enough.
Motor(s) V.S. Manuel (by hand)—Digital V.S. Analogue, A rose by any other name—–
Obviously not my daily driver, but occupies a place in my heart is my 1964 Morgan Plus 4, British iron that needs no motor and a good thing otherwise it would probably be Lucas.
Requiring good old manual labor and, for speed, maybe another set of hands from a close friend or used to be close friend as the knuckles are skinned on a regular basis playing with the Lift a Dots to secure the Hood (yes I know—British) to the windshield. A masochists delight!
All that explains why, in the 12 years I have owned my Morgan, it has never been taken for a drive in weather that even whispers moisture.
If that was not enough of a a story for the “Drive it anywhere, anytime” crowd, try a 1958 Triumph TR3 (I owned one in college).
Not only did I go through the “everything above” scenario but also add the fact that the frame for the hood was stored in the boot — In two parts. Some additional assembly required. Experience that on a, top down, warm summer day and an approaching thunderstorm.
It’s tough to be an Anglophile.
How lazy do we have to be… manual tops like the Fiat 124 and the Miata are simple and easy to operate, electric only tops are troublesome when the break and expensive to repair, the price for a little convenience… I will take my manual Miata top any day… easy quick and painless.
Once had a 1976 Alfa Spider and that had the easiest convertible top to use. Sit in the driver’s seat, reach back and pull the top up and over and latch it to the windshield frame….super simple.
On the other hand, my former Mercedes 560 SL convertible top operation was not so easy and it was easier to leave it stowed below the hard cover behind the seats. A real pain in the neck to erect and to stow it. Sort of a Rube Goldberg affair.
My AC Mk. IV Cobra has an erector set affair with metal bows, with the ends that need to be placed in the ferrules in the body, and then drape the top over the bows and snap the rear window portion into the rear metal parts in the body and attach the rest into a channel in the windshield header. Needless to say, I never put the top on the car, even on the SCM 1000 rally I took it on in 2019 where it was easier to get rained on than put the top up!
I’ve had manual soft tops, electric soft tops, and retractable soft tops, but the one thing that I’ve never had is the 1957-59 Ford Skyliner original retractable hardtop. I always found the Skyliner fascinating, ever since they were new. What a stroke of American ingenuity, fantastic! I would have purchased one over these many years but I’m not too keen on the overall design, esp. that pedestrian interior. But whenever i see one I’m always drawn to checking it out.
My two Cobras, one an original CSX3129 and one a Contemporary Classic kit car were a bit of a pain to put up if it suddenly started to rain. If I was on a highway, I’d pull under an overpass. Then I’d install the metal u-shaped top support and put the canvas top over it. Then attached the front mounting hardware to the windshield frame and then put up the side curtains. If I was driving thru the city streets, then I would pull under a big tree and do the same.
Why a clone when you have the real deal ?
John,
Read about it here:
https://mycarquest.com/2020/11/acquired-ac-cobra-427-csx-3129.html
John, I built the kit car Cobra because I kicked myself in the ass after selling CSX3129 after only owning it for 18 months and not holding onto it. At that time I didn’t have a place to store it for many years and I was young and had no idea that the price on these cars would escalate so quickly and so high. So, when I finished the kit and got all the bugs out and made it quite reliable I then put over 65,000 miles on it going to B&Bs with my wife thru New England and some mid-Atlantic states. We sure had a lot of fun with that Cobra. It’s a funny thing, I occasionally go to car shows with my 1999 Viper GTS coupe. While I’m at these shows I see many, many Cobra kit cars in great condition and beautifully finished. The problem is this, they have hardly no mileage on them most of the time for they’re hardly driven. To have a fun car like that and not go places with it and drive along country roads is almost a crime.
My early ‘80s Alfa Romeo Spider had a very easy to use top as mentioned above by Rob. I could put that top up or down while sitting at a red light.
The Triumph TR6 on the other hand was not nearly as easy because there were 3 snaps on each side that required me to be standing outside the car to put the top up or down.
The AC Cobra Mk IV, as Rob mentioned, was so difficult that I kept the top in its storage container never to be used.
Lamborghini Murcielago convertible top. Absolutely the worst nightmare to put on. Take 3 guys at the dealer to put on in about an hour.
You nailed it! The more tech they add to the roof, the more problems show up. Sometimes simplicity really is better.
The several-stages-to-erect retractable top, cloth or metal, was all to appeal to the ladies–getting a top up whilst sitting in the car playing the radio, but we, the men of the house, are responsible for it later and curse the fact they were too lazy to buy a car where you could do it by hand. I see an alarming diminishment of retractable convertibles and convertibles in general in SoCal and wonder how
many good running otherwise good cars have been sidelined in the back parking lot a dealer or private mechanic because of the infernal design of the gadgetry? On some the potential up[ward value of the car will still motivate an effort, say a Lexus LC500, but with many cars, fixing the top ain’t worth it considering how much the car has depreciated.