The Original Hardtops

[Bob Wilson <limoguy1950@xxxxxxxxx>]

Yep.  The "B" bodies (Buick Special/Century, Olds
88/98,) "C" bodied (Pontiac & Chev) got the 4-door
hardtops in 1955. "A" bodies, Buick RM, Super,
Cadillac got them in 1956.  But no '54 models had
4-door hardtops.

Bob


--- Anthony Foster <monkeypuzzle1@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> Bill B. and All;
>  Are you sure that the four door hardtop started
> with the G.M line-up in 1955? I remember seeing a
> 1954 Olds Rocket 88  that was a four door hardtop in
> a storage compound. Actually the,"hardtop", is a
> much older concept in roof design then 1946. In the
> early 20's Studebaker had a body style with what
> they called a,"Duplex Top", which looked very
> similar to a hardtop roof. The idea was actually to
> offer an inexpensive  compromise between a sedan and
> a drop top car. 
>  In those days closed cars were much more expensive
> then rag top cars because of the labour and
> materials involved in not only building the roof
> structure but in constructing the upper halves of
> the doors above the belt line and the extra  windows
> . A duplex top had a hard roof like a sedan but had
> removable window frames making them much cheaper to
> build. In fact, with the side windows out, it looked
> like a four door hardtop. 
>  A newer example, although not an American car, was
> in the Peugeot 402 series in 1937. There was a model
> called the, "Eclipse", that had a retractable metal
> roof that stowed away into the trunk. With the roof
> up it looked just like a two door hardtop and the
> window frames rolled down with the glass just like
> the 1950's ones. The Eclipse also had a back seat
> like its American successors. I suppose this car
> would be the most honest example of a Hardtop
> Convertible with the exception of the 1957 Ford
> Skyliner..
> Best Regards
> Arran Foster
> 1954 Imperial Newport
> Needing A Left Side Taillight Bezel and othe trim
> parts.
> 
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: TheCarNutz@xxxxxxx 
>   To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
>   Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 2:01 PM
>   Subject: Re: IML: The term "hardtop"
> 
> 
>   In a message dated 3/5/02 9:00:23 AM Pacific
> Standard Time, gimpineer@xxxxxxxx writes:
> 
> 
> 
>     Being just older than dirt, I was around when
> "Hardtops" were introduced.
>     D^2 is correct.  This was a new concept, at last
> for the major car
>     makers.
>     Previously only convertibles had an unobstructed
> window opening from
>     front to rear.
>     If I remember correctly, Willys Aero had the
> first one in 1952.  
> 
> 
>   You're absolutely correct,  as I am also getting
> to be one of those "old guys over there."  I was in
> my teens in the 50's and saw all those great new
> cars.  Actually the first "hardtop convertible" was
> the 2 door 1949 Buick Riviera, and was so named
> because it looked like a convertible but with a
> steel top, and no post between the front & rear, and
> the drivers door window was just like the
> convertible with the chrome around the glass.  And
> as previously mentioned, in 1955 GM introduced the
> "4 door hardtop," which again eliminated the post
> between the front & rear door area.  Probably some
> of the rarest Chrysler products found today are the
> "50's" 4 door hardtops, and my 57 Imperial
> Southampton is certainly one of them.
>                                                     
>                 Bill B. 
> 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email!
http://mail.yahoo.com/