Mark, '37 Ford roadsters & phaetons had a windshield that was part of the cowl. Did you ever see that homemade Wisconsin '37 roadster that had a rolled cowl and '36 windshield and posts. Looked a lot better than Ford's design. Chadley had a '53 Chevy coupe at Jeff's for a while; short roof made for a different; but not bad look compared to a 2dr. I kinda liked it.
Roadsters have side curtains that fasten on to but are not part of the door assembly. Convertibles have windows that roll up and down. When it comes down to technicalities this Dearborn Deuce that my stealth car kept company in the underground garage in Victoria in 2019 is a Convertible and not a roadster because the windows roll up. 53/54 Corvettes are roadsters because they have side curtains rather than roll up windows.
Yes, they did. Definitely in 1952, maybe into 1953....... not sure...... Edit: Just found this that says the last Chevy ute from Holden was in '52. https://www.autoweek.com/a2008626/1952-chevrolet-ute-gms-early-australian-import/
Right or wrong roadster has always kind of hinted at being a two seat vehicle with the top being lowered or removed in my mind.
Latterly "roadster" has been applied to any open two-seater, e.g. MGA and MGB, etc. The factory model designation of the open version of the '70s Mercedes-Benz SL was R107, and as far as I could ascertain the R was indeed for "roadster" and not something in German. The coupé version was C107. Terms shift.
If I'm honest my comment was a little cheeky and intended to put the question out there. I think the definition has varied throughout the decades, I personally see it more generally as: Roadster = Sporty vehicle or two seater with either a drop top or no top at all Convertible = More akin to a sedan or 'base model' but with a drop top/folding roof (fabric or metal) That said, opinions are like arseholes................. You wanna get into specific brands etc then it gets even more complicated.
I decided to clear this up a bit... as to clear added confusion...I have no problem with any member or their opinion on facts post' in this thread... so their was no ill feelings.... for me I post stuff out of bounds for this site so it gets deleted..... with that I learn not to post anymore....what happened here was my car that the thread was about was questionable.... not the first time it has happened... so the pics were deleted..... so for me....if the car is not HAMB friendly....and the thread is about my car...didn't make any sense to have the thread ....so with the pics gone... I changed the title to wrong web site, and requested that the thread be removed....my thinking was, no car... no thread...turns out, it appeared that my car has 17'' wheels...not allowed....and I replied I won't anymore..... meaning I won't post anymore pics of the car and move on....well, being the internet, it left it wide open for those that don't know what happened to fill in the blanks...upon discussion of the reason for the delete... it was cause the car has 17'' modern wheels...and further discussion I explained that they were 15'' and the wheels are called "OLD SCHOOL HOT ROD WHEELS" so being fair..... the MOD post the pics back up and cleaned this thread up,... rules are rules and I'm not here to try to change that... I've had pics of my cars deleted before... and in all fairness.... the wheels do look bigger than 15'' and at a quick glance , I COULD SEE THE REASON FOR THE PICS GETTING DELETED.. So, no, i never got my depends in a wad, and no I never got mad over someones post or opinion... so, heres another pic of the car....it has 15'' wheels... and yes it's easy to see how one would think they were bigger..because they sure look bigger... anyway., it all worked out... but I wanna say this... If i post something thats against the rules and it gets deleted... I won't post any more...."OF THOSE PICS" getting wheel tuck with 15'' wheels on a car sitting on springs.... hell yeah..
Unfortunately people will often take a discussion off the original topic, but to the original poster I think your car is pretty neat. I didn't know Chevy offered such a car that late. One can imagine the original owner criss crossing the country with a pile of vacuum cleaners or encyclopedias.
thats one of the miss conceptions of this car,,,not being factual ,,, but this is one of the few, in the business coupe model that came from the factory with a rear seat.. the trunk is bigger as they moved the rear seat forward 5.5 inches, which also made the roof shorter... and the trunk lid longer.. hence the name "COUPE"
I had this car out to a car show in vegas last weekend, spent the day talking to people who never even knew such a car existed...sitting next to a 53 sedan... the difference really stands out... but with out knowing, or owning coupes and sedans of this age , one wouldn't even know the difference.. so just thought I'd share a little
Maybe I am mistaken, but I was under the impression that there were no Ford roadsters newer than 1936???
..I'm pretty sure that's right, Mark. The short soft top was just called a convertible, not a Roadster and the long roof a Phaeton.
The car is a beauty, though, this era of Chevy's were never my favorite but the coupe version always caught my eye, that could be because you just hardly ever see them. Honestly they always seemed like just an old car, funny how a body style change can make such difference, that, and the fact that I've never been into six cylinder engines. My grandmother had a 1954 sedan and when I was in my early teens I would always wander out into her garage to look at it, thinking someday that it could be mine. My cousin, a girl that was a couple years older and lived next door to my grandmother helped change my thinking when she borrowed it and wrecked it, not real bad but after that I just lost interest.
I believe there actually was a 1937 Ford roadster made. However it used the same doors as the roll up window convertible with filler caps , where the window tracks are.
ford barn saay 1200 ish were made... this is what I like about threads like this you find something that you never knew,,,,I for one never heard of a 37 roadster... and the one I did see I thought some just cut the top off Did Ford Really make a 1937 Roadster - The Ford Barn
I stand corrected. So the 37 roadster has roll up door windows and a windshield post that is part of the body? Kinda ruins my idea of what a roadsters definition is....
See post 50, no wonder I’m so flipping confused. I’ve heard a lot of arguments and discussions over coupes , hard tops, sedans …. I think I’ll keep my new found definitions as posted in post 50. At least I’ll know what I’m thinking. Thank you for the great discussion. Dan
The ‘37 roadsters do not have roll up windows, they have side curtains. The openings in the door tops are capped off. They do have fixed windshield posts.
Years ago I went to my favorite salvage yard (Paneitz Salvage, Fairbury NE.) and robbed the deck lid of a really nice 53 Chevy business coupe for a 53 convertible I was piecing together. I assume that started the demise of that car?
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