Jalopnik: hardtop

1955 Chrysler 2 Door Hard Top Wagon

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:15:00 EDT

Next up in the 2008 Detroit Autorama Great 8 parade is this very vibrant, very slick 1955 Chrysler 2 Door Hard Top Wagon. Even though the car looks like it was designed this way, a ton of heavy duty work went into this one. The car has been shortened 8", chopped 2", the windshield laid by by 15 degrees, the dash was hand formed out of steel, custom floor pans throughout, custom wood deck in the back, and on and on. The motivation comes courtesy of a Hemi with a one off Hillborn injection system and power is delivered to a set of 24" Foose wheels out back.

Everything that isn't wood, glass or chrome is coated in a smooth layer of DuPont Hot Hues Revolutionary Yellow. Yes indeed the fellas at builders JK Customs did a hell of a job on this one, and it's a fine example of just how sick a grocery getter can really be.

1960 Mercury Commuter Station Wagon, With Bonus Wagon Poll

Murilee Martin — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 09:30:00 EST

What's better than a regular station wagon? Why, a pink four-door hardtop station wagon with about 800 pounds of chrome, of course! I'm actually pretty familiar with this car, because I've known the owner for many years (and in fact was with him on the day a few years back when he bought it from the original owner). This Commuter was bought new at a dealership in Oakland and has lived its entire life in Alameda; I'm pretty sure it's only been off the island a handful of times in the last 48 years.

This wagon is insanely ornate even by 1960 standards. Fins, emblems, wraparound glass, the works. And, of course, the four-door hardtopness is the icing on the cake.

The word "original" might be a bit mild when describing this wagon; it's a freakin' time capsule. The original receipts from the dealer are still in the glovebox. Of course, it wouldn't win any shows in its current condition, for two reasons: A) Nobody knows what the hell a Mercury Commuter is, and B) The paint and interior are quite faded by the Alameda sun.

But who cares? It's a prime candidate for a thorough restoration, which wouldn't be too hard since everything is there (just a matter of spending lots of dollars on a fresh paint job and an total interior resto). And... breaking news: it's for sale! Take a look at the For Sale sign in the gallery for the contact info. And when you're done with that, take the DOTS Detroit Wagon Poll!

First 150 DOTS Cars

The Maltese Falcon: A Hardtop Mustang?

Mike Spinelli — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:05:02 EDT

Autoblog found a story in the Times of Malta of a Maltese company building retractable hardtops that can be fitted to late-model Ford Mustangs. If you remember, Malta is the island nation south of Sicily on which AC Cars is reportedly building replicas of original AC Cobras, and where it will reportedly build AC roadsters based on the erstwhile Smart roadster for the UK's Project Kimber. Of course, none of those projects appear to be on solid footing. But this hardtop may be just what Malta's aftermarket automotive industry needs to get going. No word on, well, anything else about it. – Mike Spinelli

+ TimesofMalta.com: Ford Mustang roof mechanism to be built in Malta [Times of Malta via Autoblog]

Related:
More on Project Kimber: Deal With AC Cars? [internal]

British Motor Show: Mazda MX-5 Hardtop

Mike Spinelli — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 11:02:17 EDT

Mazda took the wraps off the MX-5 Roadster Coupe earlier today at the 2006 British Motor Show. Using technology first developed for the origami industry, the company's engineers figured out a way to fit the roof — which Mazda says is the fastest in production (12 seconds from top to not) — into the same space as the softtop model's cloth top. Doing so, they've preserved trunk space, but added 66 pounds (the weight kind) to the package — which required additional suspension tuning to offset. The production model will be in dealerships by Spring '07.

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