Convertible/Targa tops.

[daytona365]

A simple request here..............Why don't more car makers make Targa tops anymore, in the same vein as Porsche, Fiat and even Corvette ? A lovely cosy cabin giving all the joys of a convertible with non of the drawbacks. Imo of course.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Because retractable hard tops do the same job but better.

[kambites]

Has there ever been a targa that didn't create more wind noise and leak more than the convertible equivalent?

I suspect the simple answer is "because they're harder to automate and no-one wants manual roofs anymore". The Elise/Exige is pretty much a targa.

[EskimoArapaho]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Because retractable hard tops do the same job but better, and these days no-one cares about all of the extra weight you also have to put up with

EFA

[rscott]

EskimoArapaho said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Because retractable hard tops do the same job but better, and these days no-one cares about all of the extra weight you also have to put up with

EFA

Not a massive difference - my MX-5 is all of 80kg heavier than the soft top

[EskimoArapaho]

rscott said:

Not a massive difference - my MX-5 is all of 80kg heavier than the soft top

That's like permanently carrying one porky passenger around. In a 'lightweight' sportscar!

In addition to the significantly poorer bhp/tonne measure, you also have to decelerate that extra weight, rotate it, and all the while putting up with a higher CoG that hampers cornering, etc.

I think folding hardtops make perfect sense in big-engined cruisers, but not sportscars.

[Claudia Skies]

EskimoArapaho said:

That's like permanently carrying one porky passenger around. In a 'lightweight' sportscar!

More significantly the porky passenger is being carried on top of the car, not in it, so the weight distribution goes to pot.

Anyway, folding tin-tops all look lard-arsed to me.

As regards targa roof, one of the issues is how/where to stow it when removed from the car. At one point Citroen made a C3 Pluriel whose roof arrangement couldn't be stowed in the car at all! Hopeless for UK. Mind you, the comedy umbrella roofs fitted to KTM X-Bow, Lotus, Porsche Spyder and others aren't much of a solution either.