Going (Semi) Topless: The T-Top

Ah, the T-top. Like the opera window a classic from (mostly) the 1970s. This semi-convertible feature was designed to give you the open-top experience of a convertible while getting rid of flimsy and leak-prone rag-tops, giving the driver a coupe-like quiet inside and maintaining some semblance of structural rigidity. Pop the panels off, stow 'em in the trunk (or garage if the rain chance is low), and you can cruise around admiring the sky and feeling the wind in your hair. 

That was the idea anyway. What many ended up with was a leak-prone roof that didn't make much appreciable difference in what was considered 'handling' back then. Whether installed at the factory as part of the options package or put in later, T-tops seemed like such a great idea but never really worked as well as their billing suggested. They've made an appearance off and on since their heyday in the 1970s, but for the most part they've been supplanted by traditional convertible tops (that actually work well), single-piece removable tops (ala, the modern Thunderbird), or more modern retractable hardtops. 

I've often thought that the T-top was a great idea -- a happy medium between the true convertible and the coupe -- that manufacturers would find some way to bring them back, make them work well, and give us nostalgia-seekers a little feeling of semi-convertiblism in our modern, comfortable, and well-performing automobiles. It's been 30+ years, the time must be ripe. . . .right?

Probably not, sadly. 

In terms of definition, we can turn to Wikipedia: a roof with a removable panel on each side of a rigid bar running from the center of one structural bar between pillars to the center of the next structural bar. Not to be confused with the similar Targa top, which is about the same thing minus the center bar, the T-top was supposed to provide the open air driving experience of a traditional convertible while still maintaining structural rigidity by means of the center bar, not to mention getting rid of the extra weight of the rag top. It seemed like a great compromise.

The genesis of the T-top came about in the 1940s when designer Gordon Buehrig came up with the idea for The American Sportscar Company (or Tasco). Buehrig had a distinguished career in the auto industry, involved in the design of the Cord 810/812 among many other famous projects. For the Tasco, Buehrig took inspiration from the aviation industry, then in vogue as part of the Streamline Moderne offshoot of the art deco movement. The aviation-inspired design of the Tasco is easy to spot; in addition, it used aviation-like controls and the wheel covers actually turned with the wheels. And it had a T-top, which you can make out in the provided photo. Buehrig patented his idea in 1951, but the Tasco never made it into production. 

Fast forward a few years, and the first production use of the T-top was in the 1968 Corvette. Apparently, GM didn't bother to check with Buehrig because he up and sued them for patent infringement. It's unclear whether he got any substantial payoff from his legal action, but GM continued to use the T-top throughout the 1970s.

Perhaps the most classic use of the T-top was in my beloved F-bodies from the later 1970s. They first offered the T-Top on the 1976 model Firebird, made absolutely classic a (model) year later on the Trans Am "Screaming Chicken" version of the Firebird. Other manufacturers followed suit and the T-top made its way onto a lot of non-performance-oriented models, as manufacturers sought to make it into something of an elegance factor, much like they had done with the opera window. For its part, GM's T-tops were made by Hurst for the first two years  and thence by Fisher. The latter's were apparently rather inferior to the Hurst design and seem to have provided the impetus for the tradition of leak-proneness. 

It's not hard to see the problem with the T-top: the rigidity which the design is supposed to maintain is tricky at best and the continual flexing of the body will almost inevitably lead to gaps around the seals. Add to that generally low-tolerance work and eventual drying of the gaskets and leaking was practically inevitable. 

And so, the T-top went the way of the opera window. . . .mostly. It made a temporary comeback in the 2002 Camaro but quickly went away. Other vehicles have tried them, including the Toyota MR2 (2nd gen), Pontiac Fiero, Dodge Daytona and Magnum (the car, not the wagon, although how cool would that be?), the Subaru BRAT, and, yes, the AMC Eagle Sundancer. Obviously, virtually any car can be aftermarket-fitted with a T-Top although those tend to be the worst offenders in terms of leakage unless they done exceedingly well. 

When I was first contemplating this post I had thought to argue that they should make a return since I've always liked the basic concept. Since surveying the field, however, I tend to think maybe it's an idea whose time has come and gone. It seems exceedingly difficult to design one that would provide sufficient roof strength for today's rollover standards and also be robust enough to not leak over the long term due to ever-present body flexing. True, they've pretty much got the whole sun roof concept down pat these days, but those don't have to open to the sides like T-top panels do which, I would think, complicates things greatly. So, I dunno, perhaps we should just appreciate them for where and when they were and leave it at that. 

Then again. . . . . .

Credits. The Tasco photo is from ConceptCarz.com. I found the nice Mustang II T-top here. Last photo is from this site. All others from Wikipedia.

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