Re: Hardtops

["Jim Blair" <carnuck@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

A: BAck in the late '70s, I was taking welding at a Vo-Tech College up in 
the hills of Haney, BC and we had to be there, no matter what weather (I 
drove 75 miles a day to and from school) At the time, I had a '66 Nova 2 dr 
HT and come winter, I pushed it a bit harder one day to get there on time (I 
allowed 3 hours for the drive in snow, but traffic backups due to accidents 
ate 2 1/2 hours worth before I got past 1/2 way) I caught an ice patch on a 
switchback corner and gently slid off the road into the ditch at @5mph, 
where the car laid on it's side.
   It took a bit of work, but I managed to climb out the driver's side 
window with my stuff. As I jumped down off the car onto the road, the force 
moved the car further over, and it finished it's roll. The roof flattened 
down to the seat tops! I was so stunned that I nearly forgot about 
continuing on to school (a fellow student saw me and gave me a ride. We were 
both written up for being late by the instructor, but I took pictures of my 
car to the supervisor and he removed that from our record)
   That was my last small hard top for quite some time! (I ended up with a 2 
dr HT Datsun 200SX years later that had snow/ice trouble too. I was on my 
way to sell it and took out a light pole in reverse when someone backed up 
onto the freeway from the offramp and I swerved to avoid collision. Looking 
back, I don't know which would have been worse for us)


From: <mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Hardtops
To: mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx

The hardtop styling came about because of the
convertible influence. People liked the idea of owning
a convertible but not the pitfalls of owning one. GM
then brought it out as a compromise and originally it
only came in a 2-dr. Later on for the family man a
4-dr Hdtp was introduced. But yeah, they all have one
thing in common that identifies a hardtop, no middle
pillar. The mandatory shoulder belts and safety
concerns killed the hdtp.
A sedan is generally a car designed to sit 3 adults
comfortably in the back whereas a coupe is a car for
only 2 adults. So you then have a hardtop coupe, 2-dr
sedan, etc.
And of course every one had their own spin on things.
For me the 2-dr hdtp is the nicest style for a car
after my AMX of course. Give me a hdtp coupe in the
summer with all the windows down, the wing windows

wide open and the vents open. Yeah baby.....Russ