Here’s something that didn’t seem to catch on: removable hardtops for American convertibles. This is a Gold 300 Esquire hardtop made by Riviera, Inc. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Looks like it has an interesting texture too. I wonder how much they weighed. That obviously was their limitation, as one pretty much would have had to have a garage hoist, and a garage ceiling tall enough for it.
Here’s some other models:
Here’s the Olds 98 wearing an Esquire. It’s a bit boxy and long.
And the popular Impala SS convertible.
Ever seen one?
Far out! I bet those were heavy – fiberglass, surely?
They weighed 80 pounds, were made of fiberglass, but had a “simulated leather grain finish,” which is why that top example looks like it has an interesting texture. The top example is the top-line “300” model, which was offered in either gold or silver. A “200” was similar, but came in white or black landau, and a base-level “100” also came in white or black, but didn’t have the “landau” treatment.
Evidently, a “100” hardtop retailed for $295, and the manufacturer attempted to get GM dealers to be retailers of their hardtop.
Riviera, Inc. didn’t have much luck – from what I can tell, the company organized in 1962, began production in 1963, and filed for bankruptcy in 1964.
Consider also the demographic. Middle aged people were probably much less likely to want to deal with massive hard tops, than younger people were with the smaller and lighter versions on their MGs and Triumph Spitfires.
When I was on the fence between a Miata and an S2000 in 2006, a hardtop was absolutely going to be part of the deal. I have a garage and would get one of those hoist-things to hold it and help me install and remove it alone.
Then Mazda came out with the retractable hardtop version. Problem solved.
I saw an ad many years ago for this item shown on a 1964 Pontiac but I don’t remember if it was a Catalina or a Bonneville. Even at 80 lbs. I expect it would take at least two grown people (not counting those under 5′-2″ tall) to remove the top without potentially damaging the car.
I had a 1970 Chevrolet Blazer with the full length roof (all the way to the windshield). One summer when I was a strapping young lad of 17 and working construction, I removed the roof by myself. After unbolting 16 bolts I squatted under the roof, picked it up on my back and walked it down a ramp I had fixed to the tailgate then sat it down on a pair of sawhorses. Yeah, that was stupid but I was 16 remember?
I drove the Blazer all that summer with out the roof and only got caught in the rain once. No problem since it had rubber floor mats and vinyl seats. When I went to replaced the top though I enlisted the help of three of my male friends – two on each side. The most difficult thing about the re-install was lining up the bolt holes on the bed of the truck with the holes in the roof.
I’ve removed and replaced bed caps on pickup trucks a few times and always with the help of one other adult.
I had an aluminum cap on the bed of a 1973 Chevy pickup that I was able to take off and put back on by myself. Of course, as you said, I was much younger!
I had a steel Gem Top canopy on my Chevy LUV and even though I was 22 at the time, I never attempted to remove or install it by my self. It was heavy, and I was 5’11 and 210lbs at the time.
I did the same with my ’85 4Runner, but with a helper. That thing was really heavy.
Sounds like how I’ve always removed the fiberglass caps on my pickup trucks, only difference being that I’d have sawhorses built to the height of the bed sidewalls and would only have the walk to the end of the tailgate. If I go back to a pickup truck again, I’ll return to the same setup.
In 1995, Ford offered a factory hardtop for the new SN95 Cobra convertible. It looks like they sold 499 of them for the Cobra but I don’t know if you could get it on the regular Mustang. I’m sure it was a pricey option, regardless, and I think it was a one-year-only offering.
With the eventual advent of folding hardtop convertibles (pioneered by the troublesome Ford Skyliner), these add-on hardtops quickly fell out of favor. They were never that popular to begin with and I can’t imagine any of them being a whole lot of fun taking-off/putting-on since you’d essentially have to have a tall garage with a pulley system to do it.
One of the first offerings of this might have been the hardtop you got with the old 1963- 71 Mercedes-Benz ‘pagoda top’ SL convertible, a car rarely seen without the hardtop.
Troublesome Ford Skyliner?
Those were very complex expensive mechanisms for their day but were actually quite reliable. Especially given the technology of the day.
That they had a low take rate was pretty much because they were so expensive compared to the Sunliner convertible.
If you had the garage to either hoist or store it, you could probably park your convertible in it and take another car when the weather was bad. If you didn’t have a garage, you shouldn’t have bought a convertible in the first place.
Surprising how small the 98 looks compared to the Cadillac.
In its first few years, the Allante came with a hardtop as standard, but they dropped it to lower the base price. I assume it was still available at extra cost, but it isn’t clear from the various writeups.
I think a removable hardtop was automatically included with the much maligned Chrysler TC by Maserati, too. Occasionally, you’ll see one without it, but those sightings are rare.
I think the Caddy looks like an Eldorado. Wasn’t that longer than a DeVille?
Nope, De Ville and Eldorado were the same length.
All of this new to me, but I see Eric703 above has all the details. Here’s a factory postcard from eBay:
Is there an image of the flip-side of the postcard with the 1962 Catalina convertible with the hardtop?
This must be the “Landau” (same eBay postcard—you’re welcome to drop this in your post if you’d like, Paul):
I usually not a fan, but those landau bars really help on those wide C-pillars.
Postcard says this is the “300” in silver:
One last one from eBay:
I’ve seen photos of first-generation Corvairs with similar removable tops. It’s not that hard to rig up a hoist and it doesn’t take a super high garage ceiling, especially for a fairly low vehicle like a Corvair. I know an owner of a 2003 T-Bird and have seen his hoist setup in a typical suburban attached garage.
I’d forgotten about the last 2-seat Thunderbird’s hardtop. Interestingly, that one was definitely an option and, even though not particularly common, you’ll see the soft-top version occasionally. It kind of makes sense since those final T-Birds were much more of a fair-weather, cruiser-type car.
Have a friend who had a 2005 T-bird with the removable hardtop and what a PIA to install and remove. A two, preferably three person job. One small slip could gash the paint or worse. A real pain to line up all the latches and pins. Got to the point he just left the hardtop on all of the time.
I can just imagine how these much larger tops were to install and remove.
Maybe a hardtop is useful when the convertible is the only car you have. To put it up in the winter.
But I would guess most convertibles are extra cars, to be used when it is not raining. What is the fun driving it with the top up? The only time I have the top up on my conv is when it rains.
Much depends on driver preferences.
I have several vehicles, but sometimes drive my Mustang convertible with the top up when I want to enjoy its driving attributes, but the weather is too warm for practical top-down commuting (for me, over 85°F to 90°F). While not quite to the standards of the coupe, this one is light years ahead of my previous convertible in terms of rigidity, insulation from heat and cold, and lack of noise with the top up.
Only ever spotted one of those, on a 1963 Bonneville, driven around a town about twenty miles away. Distinctive roof profile but seemed pointless when the factory hardtop coupes were so readily available. Only its ability to hold more heat in the wintertime seem like any good reason to have the top. But after a winter with the convertible top folded, it might have been time to replace the top material too.
Wow, I like this but understand the weight issues, my second Metropolitan Nash had a home made removable hard top, it was made out of the steel roof from a junked coupe and weighed ton ~ two us us could barely remove it .
-Nate
IN 1984, I acquired a 1967 Sunbeam Alpine roadster. When new, they were available with an optional heavy factory steel removable hardtop. Mine didn’t have that option. But soon after I bough the Sunbeam, I met a guy that had sold his, but had an aftermarket Parrish-Plastics fiberglass hardtop for it, wedged in the crawlspace under his house, and if I could pry it out, I could have it. The top was light enough to carry from my apartment storage to the car every Fall, then back to storage every Spring. Thing is, with all the extra noise and air leaks, the Alpine’s ragtop was not a fun place to be under, for more than was absolutely necessary. But the Parrish top was very effective in making the Alpine weather-tight and reasonably quiet as well. And I know the heavy factory hardtop would’ve been a lot more hassle. By the way, my Alpine was green, but the free hardtop was red – a miss-match I never corrected. So my Alpine was quite the sight every Winter. I nicknamed it my ‘Martini Olive’!
Happy Motoring, Mark
My Father never owned a convertible, but in the 60’s we had a car-top camper (that mounted on the rain gutter rails) which (when not in use) lived on the ceiling of our garage.
We would crank it down and onto the car, and drive to the campground.
This worked for awhile, but after we moved from Burlington to Manassas, our garage ceiling was much higher (kind of like the house I now own, it has about a 14′ ceiling) such that the winch wouldn’t work, not sure what the dynamic range was but likely a foot or two, not 7 or 8…at least we never got it installed. And that was the ruin of the camper, even with 4 people (well, 2 adults and 2 pre-teens) we tried to carry it down outside stairs to our basement, and we scraped the hell out of the canvas (the camper was metal, but sides folded down and canvas tent was the top of it). We weren’t quite through with camping, so my Dad instead bought a more conventional pop-top trailer and we got rid of the car top camper. But it was probably the slickest packaging I’ve ever seen, though truth be told, on a rainy day was a drag since although it ostensibly slept 4 persons, the headroom on the 2 ends was only a couple of feet, so everyone wanted to congregate in the middle, but that also meant that there was no room left to lie down for those who normally slept there. It even had a primitive cabana with shower (water tanks on side of car flipped down for a cold shower) and a bag toilet. Also a picnic table with small propane burner and plastic bins for washing dishes and utensils. If you didn’t mind primitive camping it was fine, and you didn’t have to sleep down low (climbed up a ladder to short gangplank to get in and out).
Guess you know why a convertible was probably the last type of car my Dad was likely to buy…the most luxurious one was probably his ’78 Caprice Classic Wagon he bought out of the showroom, but a convertible was a bridge too far.
Anyone have one of those tops for sale?
We’ve had one sitting in our garage for years. My husband’s father had a 54 Ford Fairlane Retractable when he died so this was probably from a car he had before that one. The tag says Esquire Hardtop Riviera 1829 and we have an advert for it along with a card that says it was last on a 64 Chevy but it fits others.
Do you happen to still have that esquire top? also, was it for an impala? I have been looking for one for years and have not been able to come across one.
We do still have it. Not sure if it would fit an Impala but we have a list of what it does fit. I could check it for you.
That would be great! I’ve been looking for an esquire top for some time now for my chevy impala. If you could check and possibly post pictures that would be real helpful.