ITS GETTING WARM, LETS SEE THOSE O.T. CONVERTIBLES

This is our OT convertible. 2002 TBird.

 

2005 GT droptop in torch red with a 5-speed trans and 3.55s out back... I still have it, but I haven't driven it in a few.... Needs a new top...
My car actually looks like crap...

 

I bought this quite a few years ago thinking it might be fun to mess around with. I stuck it in a barn out at the family farm. Doesn't run, no idea whats wrong with it. Previous owner said something about one of the cylinders having an issue. The barn had to come down so I moved it to another area at the farm. Some pics of when I moved it and hosed it off before I stuck it away under a tarp in another building.

 

We had a neighbor in our second house we owned that traded his SSR PU on one of those birds. He said the T-bird was faster, more comfortable and held more, LOL.

 

Hell yes, Corvair ragtops are cool. Very cool...at any speed!

 

We have owned this car since 2006, it only has 67,000km (42,000 miles) and have really enjoyed it for both little local drives and long trips. It rides smooth, gets good gas mileage and has decent power for a 3.9l DOHC V8. There was a time period from about 2010 to 2015 where we got a lot of negative comments from a certain group of people about it ( though kids always loved it) but now it seems to be more accepted. Doesn’t matter though, we like it. Parts are a little “iffy” to get especially the plastic cooling stuff so I bought a parts Lincoln LS (same basic car) and have it sitting out back just in case.
Cheers!

 

If we lived our lives (or more aptly, not lived them) because of what others think, we would miss so much of our short existence on this earth. Enjoy your 'bird and give the haters the same.

 

I’ve always liked funky little cars. I had 1st and 2nd versions of Scion XB’s, put over 300k on each one (work vehicles).

And Ive always liked Fiat 500’s, I consider them funky, and I especially like the convertible/sliding ragtop versions. Got my wife to search for a low mileage one and she found ours via Carmax in California. They shipped it up here. I think it had very low 30k when we got it 3 years ago and it recently flipped over 60k. I didn’t want an Abarth because I didn’t want something that was probably abused lol.
We take mini road trips in it, spring through fall. Tops almost always down.

Picture next to my sons Audi and a pic of how easy it is to park

Added a pic that shows interior better

 

Ive had 3 pop 500's, the one we have now is close to 50k miles... we pull it behind the rv...and it gets drove the most of all our cars

 

Damn that's small. Cute, but small.

 

Yep. That top tucks down real nice. Not a fan of rag tops where the roof is humped up in the back when down. Also not a big fan of the 1st gen F bodies parade boot. Even when they were new they didn't fit well. Like I said in an earlier post, I like rag tops that were designed and built to be rag tops, not just hard tops with the roof whacked off. Nice add!

 

Agreed. Chrysler did a great job on convertibles, tucked into the well completely and covered by a nice boot.

 

I hope the boots were easier to install than the one on my Olds. Those Camaro boots were snap on and puckerd up all over. I usually just left them off. My Olds doesn't use snaps, it has a round bead that threads through a channel on top of the rear seat, it is a PITA to put on. I lube the channel with Gibbs (helps) but my arthritic fingers get a horrid workout pulling the boot through. Once that is done the rear has plastic bits that slide under the stainless trim. All said and done there are no snaps other than two on the interior piston covers. Neat and tidy.

To put the roof up, you can leave the channel bit and just toss the boot in the rear well under the window. Ah the joys of owning a convertible. This post reminds me it is time to put that boot back on...great.

 

The one on my 65 Sport Fury is very easy to snap down. Fits perfect and still original to the car.

 

This is what I mean about 1st gen F bodies. This is a high-end car and that boot? Well, it is best left off the vehicle.

How much nicer would it have looked if the top actually fit into the well rather than being as high or higher than the front head restraints and had a proper boot. The car, IMO, would have been a knockout as a rag top (still a great looking car, mind you). As it is, I prefer the hardtop for aesthetics.

I do not know the history of it's design but I would bet the 1st Gen was never engineered to be a convertible. The subframe design with an added rag top only X brace for support, cocktail shakers in all four corners to stabilize it, cowl wobble, and that top when down tell me that GM cut the roof off of a hardtop and chased issues having done so. Drop dead sexy, mind you, but not the finest engineered convertible I have owned.

The Corvette from the same era, full frame, no need for stabilizers, top fit well within the car and a hard tonneau cover over it. While it is difficult not to prefer the 2nd Gen as a hardtop, the 3rd Gen Vette was best looking as a roadster, again, IMO. [ Insert crappy picture of a picture of my LT-1 ]

 

Agreed. Never cared for the top hump on those when down. They did it right on the Vette.

 

Perfect

 

I never get to see MOPAR ragtops in the wild, and I have never owned one surprisingly. They are beautiful, HEMI ragtop? Fogetaboutit. I was at BJ one year when a Plum Crazy, HEMI, ragtop crossed the block at the beginning of the showcase on Saturday, fetching over the 7 figure mark.

All of the examples you have posted have proper fitting tops both up and more importantly down. What's not to like? Well designed, topless cars.

I should also include amongst manufacturers that got it right, Ford T-birds through 66 that had hard tonneaus covering the top when lowered. I especially love the mid 60's birds with the roadster cover fitted. An elegant automobile. Stick a 390 or 427 under the hood, drop the top and blow what is left of yer hair off in style.

Here's a 65? I found on-line that someone did some work to. I sort of like the boat windscreen but I doubt the top is functional as a result. I'd cruise the whites off it!

 

Beautiful example with the T-Bird. Long life MoPar guy here, they did it right for sure.

 

The yellow GTX you posted is fantastic. I hate to call it a muscle car as the name implies a bulging, grunting, gym rat with poor manners and smelling of steroids. The GTX is powerful but graceful looking, like a Marine in a leisure suit. I have never seen those small bumperettes on the rear before. Rare?

 

Beautiful!.....

 

It really is a convertible. Two tops, Has the original hardtop on it

 

Fixed!.....