RE: Open Season: Too shy to go all the way?

[tog]

Don't forget the Zagato designed Bristol 412 and Beaufighter





Bewildering array of roof options and varieties with these cars.

[will-w]

thejpster said:

What about http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2286637.htm?



(It's an old-shape as there aren't any new-shape Brabus cabs in the classifieds).

And of course you've got the better handling and arguably more 'fun' Roadster-Coupe!


http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1464055.htm

I had one, it was brilliant in the snow

Just a shame the Brabus alloys were made from butter and buckled all the time

[TommyBuoy]

Alfa numeric said:

2woody said:

that proves my point - the targa came out 16 years before the convertible, mainly because it took them that long to work out how not to have it fold up in the middle. Wasn't the targa dropped when the cabriolet came out (1982)

I think that they do it now because the cabrio is the "proper" soft-top, whilst the targe is little more than a full sliding sunroof.

[geek mode] The Targa was developed as as the time it was widely expected that the US was about to ban full convertibles on safety grounds.That's why the TR7 was originally also only offered as a fixed head coupe. As soon as that danger passed, Porsche and many other companies started developing convertible models again.[/geek mode]

The Targa was also available as a 964.

Interesting thanks...couldn't work out why they developed both but if you lose a large market sector then that's a good reason to.

When I have the roof and windows down on my car it feels slightly exposed at motorway speeds - always wondered if they would ban full convertibles due to 'safety'.

Anyway, back on topic, I seem to remeber a corsa B convertible -

http://clickcars.co.uk/FullAdDetails.aspx~AdRef~16...

Now that is not a proper convertible!

[Fury1630]

Nobody mentioned the Triumph Stag? I hate them myself, but they ought to get a mention.

[LuS1fer]

Worth a mention is one of the finer exponents of the art of half-hearted convertibility - the Lancia Beta Spider.

Edited by LuS1fer on Wednesday 8th December 19:07

[TIGA84]

Loads of Bentley and Rolls landaulettes etc, this one in particular, other than the Phantom 6 LWB that I cant find a picture of.

http://www.rrab.com/apr99.htm

Hooper did quite a few IIRC.

[Stuart]

shakotan said:

Should the humble 2CV get a mention here?

I've been saying around the office (alright, quietly to myself for fear of open ridicule) that a 2CV is the perfect Open Season vehicle for when there's snow on the ground.

It has a roof which opens all the way, it has tyres skinny enough to cut through snow to tarmac, and it has scarcely enough torque to propel itself forwards, let alone have any spare to break grip. Perfect. Just so long as you spend a similar amount on the very warmest North Face has to offer.

[andy_s]

[Baked_bean]

TommyBuoy said:

How about thos odd Baur BMW's?

One around my way and it always makes me question why...not that it looks odd with the roof up, but I have never seen it with the roof down.

I notice you're from suffolk, it might well be my stepdads that you see! its never got the roof down and i assume theres not too many about?! is it a white one with blue roof?

[bermy boy]

I've got a 993 targa and yes, its really just a giant sunroof albeit its a very nice giant sunroof and it works pretty well, at least when it isn't broken. The shape of the 911 lends itself to a large section of the roof sliding backwards under the rear window but that wouldn't on too many cars. As for most of the cars on this topic, including the older 911 targas, well, most of them look a bit pants truth be told. Ferrari Dino/308/328 etc may scrape into the category. Nice in theory but the downside is dealing with the damn roof panels.

[thejpster]

will-w said:

thejpster said:

What about http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2286637.htm?



(It's an old-shape as there aren't any new-shape Brabus cabs in the classifieds).

And of course you've got the better handling and arguably more 'fun' Roadster-Coupe!


http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1464055.htm

I had one, it was brilliant in the snow

Just a shame the Brabus alloys were made from butter and buckled all the time

Ahh, the Roadster. Positively encourages open top motoring, as the roof leaks like a b***h. There's no point putting it up if it doesn't even keep the rain out.

[TommyBuoy]

Baked_bean said:

TommyBuoy said:

How about thos odd Baur BMW's?

One around my way and it always makes me question why...not that it looks odd with the roof up, but I have never seen it with the roof down.

I notice you're from suffolk, it might well be my stepdads that you see! its never got the roof down and i assume theres not too many about?! is it a white one with blue roof?

Actually no, it's black so couldn't be more different! I am on the edge of Cambridgeshire so there is a vast strech of Suffolk to the East that it could be rolling around!

Question is, why is the roof never down?

[cooperd5]

beetroute said:

Returning to the Citroen Pluriel theme. I know they won't be top of many PHer's "Cars I Really Must Look Out For" lists, but has anyone EVER seen one outside of a showroom or motor show with those damn great roof girders actually removed ? I would have guessed that as it's a Citroen at least some might have just fallen off by now, but I've never seen a Pluriel completely sans roof.

I have!! Woman round the corner had one, though I only ever saw it once with the bars gone, all the rest it was either roof up or roof down. Strange thing!

[Chris944_S2]

Since we're getting all this snow and some are panicking, there's always the 4x4 option

[LuS1fer]

cooperd5 said:

beetroute said:

Returning to the Citroen Pluriel theme. I know they won't be top of many PHer's "Cars I Really Must Look Out For" lists, but has anyone EVER seen one outside of a showroom or motor show with those damn great roof girders actually removed ? I would have guessed that as it's a Citroen at least some might have just fallen off by now, but I've never seen a Pluriel completely sans roof.

I have!! Woman round the corner had one, though I only ever saw it once with the bars gone, all the rest it was either roof up or roof down. Strange thing!

Same here. Odd local woman but she did say the damn thing p*ssed in water like a sieve even with all the panels in place. They have German again now.

[garciasierra]

Ref Citroen Pluriel, I / my ex ran one for several years and often had the roof properly open - although I will admit that it was a crap design! Never had any leaking problems either, although a friend who had one did

[2woody]

Rumblestripe said:

2woody said:

the Scimitar would probably just fold in the middle if you removed the bar.

Completely wrong, the Scimitar has a massive separate chassis and the body on the GTE was massively strong in it's own right. According to popular legend no-one has ever been killed in a Scimitar. They are a very very strong car. Roll over bar was for just that.

pretty shocking torsional rigidity I seem to remember.

Used to have the figures - I, er left the company with a large amount of technical documentation when it collapsed. All subsequently donated to RSSOC.

quite good beam stiffness, but torsionally not so.

[kellyann1710]

Hi is there anyone out there that knows of anyone in Northern Ireland that repairs Citroën Pluriel roofs?