49-54 chev with factory removable hardtop?

[lulabelle]

Anyone know anything about a 49-54 chevs with a removable top?Are they rare?Desireable?I found one today in a yard.Top is too far gone,or I'd have it!

[kustombuilder]

i'm curious. did you take any pics?? if not then get your ass back there and do so. i've never heard of such a thing.

[fab32]

I used to have one of those but it took a cutting torch to get the top off.

Frank

[Tinbender]

I've been wrong before but, factory lift off,I don't think so.

[CharlieLed]

I don't know JT but it sounds like the rust made the top removable, not GM... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[fordnutz]

They made a fibreglas lift off top for 49-51 ford converts. I saw a pic of one a buddy of mine had located on a car in Idaho years ago. Then in an old car mag I saw an ad for one. I think someone in the early ford V-8 club might have the skinny on it. Nutz

[Lionheart]

Could this be one of those 53 Corvette junky yard stories that have been goin around for years?

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[50mercfan]

maybe you've found an old kustom?

[roadstar]

Ok.Ok lets not get too excited here. Those cars are called "Convertibles" and the top actually folded down and gives the allusion of the top being removed. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Jkustom]

Never heard of it.

[Boones]

What year was it? I know you now the difference (49-52 or 53/54 since you have one. I do not think they were never made. Get a pic, would be nice to see it

[286merc]

I vaguely remember an article in Mechanics Illustrated about a guy who built one.

[old beet]

NOT!!!!........OLDBEET

[cool57]

'63-'64 Impala converts had one available, used to be one here locally, don't know if it was GM or aftermarket-but was available from Chev dealer

[C9]

It was somewhat common for guys to cut the rear roof and side windows out of a station wagon and set em up so they bolted to the bed of a 57-59 Ranchero.
Was a nice way to get a sorta camper.
And you still had your truck.

Ranchero's of that era were built on the station wagon frames and floorpans and in fact if you pull the Ranchero bed floor off you'll find a wagon's floor underneath.
Complete with indent for spare tire etc.
Some guys pulled the sorta corrugated Ranchero floor off, cut it, installed a hinge and took the spare out from behind the seat and placed it into the wagon spare tire well.
Made a nice way to gain some additional storage room in the 'Chero, but it was tough sledding when you had a flat with a bed full of stuff....

[Satinblack]

Ok wheres the beef(pic)? I gotta see this.

[C9]

Know what a 57-59 Ford station wagon looks like?

Looks the same on the Ranchero, swing-up window and all.

When you get close you can see that it's a 'Chero if you look close.
That because there's usually a piece of weather strip or something between 'Chero and wagon top.

[JamesG]

Sounds like you found an old Kustom. They never made one from the factory that way. Just soft top verts is all.

[lulabelle]

I'll try to get some pics and a closer look soon.I didn't have permission to be there.

[Kustm52]

According to research I have done, the '51 hardtop was a rush job to get a hardtop model on the market....just as the Crestliner was Ford's last minute answer ( which really wasn't a hardtop, but mimicked the styling of such). The Chevy hardtop was simply a covertible body that the steel hardtop was added on to...as the covertible already had the windows for it, as well as the frame reinforcements. It robably wouldn't be that hard to make the hardtop removable, and if one was really deteriorated it could have separated from the body...

Brian

Brian

[phat rat]

Chevy had a carson type top as an option in 61. I saw one in Sheridan Wy back in 95. Talked to the guy whose mother bought it brand new. He said she never really liked it because of no 1/4 windows.

[lulabelle]

yeah,the door glass was convertable-hardtop like.There is a piece of moulding above the windshield moulding-below the backglass.

[abe lugo]

I'm with Kustom52 on this Early chev hardtops were just hardtopped convertables! So you can just slice in the right spots and have a real ardtop early fifties chevy. I think 53-54 chevys were all new designed.

[Kustchops]

Frames lack the x-member, and pedals, and the structure is not the same around the wheelwells. But the basic body is a convert, except in 49 the convertable body is a custom coach not an early hardtop production. Ive done a few, got a shit bag 50 right now, gonna find a h/t to make it right.

[hillbillyhellcat]

There is a 65 Tbird at a local yard where the guy made a removeable hardtop, did a damn good job too, put weatherstripping and latches on it, it's kinda like a T Top, very '80s. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[chip]

ok, here's my 2 cents on this subject, i know a guy up here that has a '49 chevy hard top. ok, they never made one you say? well according to him it went like this....in '49 chevy was contemplating producing a hard top for the next year, so they sent about 20 '49 convert's out to body/custom/fab shops & told them to make a solid top for the car, SOME, not all of these were bolt on tops. some even left the convert tops folded down behind the seat. there is a guy in vancouver,wa. that had one with the convert top in it,& a bolt on top (it was a pontiac), but he sold the car years ago. the guy i heard this info from lived in my town, & owned the '49 chev, (it diddn't have the folding top left in it)but sold the car to a guy in ridgefield (close to here) & he still owns it. i know this sounds like a b.s. story, but i have seen both these cars with my own eyes. it does sound possible, but i think these were only a '49 model year test run & they were not made to be easly removed, as the chev front bolts were behind the headliner, the guy diddn't know it came off until he took out the headliner to replace it....chip

[kustombuilder]

WOW! neat stuff. i like that kinda rare shit. got any pics CHIP?? it'd be cool to see some pics. the one with the convert top still in it is WILD, talk about RARE!!!




Mike

[lulabelle]

I gotta open that trunk!I'll keep you all posted.

[PontiacRoss]

I'm looking for a Hart top for my '62 Bonneville, I expect it would be interchangeable with '61-'64 Pontiac, Buick, Olds, Cadillac and Chevrolet, I understand there was one called an Esquire? <--spelling? I maybe found one, but it's 2 states over, could somebody send me a photo or something?

[henry29]

Are you sure the top actually comes off? Is the top off of the car?
A 51 chevy hardtop could easily be confused as a convertible with a removable hardtop.


http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-1950-1959/1951-Chevrolet-blue-white-top-stock-ggr.jpg

[Kustm52]

What is it with FNG's bringing posts back from five years ago? Oh well, if they didn't, some asshole would yell at them for not doing a search...

Brian

[chopt49]

What is it with FNG's bringing posts back from four years ago?

Brian


That's funny.... He was digging in the Way Back Machine for sure!

[Smokin' Joe]

I know it sounds like BS at first, but... if it's real, it's gotta be one of the best-kept secrets around, huh? I'm gonna keep diggin' until I find out the story.

[STEPHEN FIELDS]

I found one of these yesterday, it is a 1950 hard top, that is removable. It looks TOTALLY STOCK!!!!!....it doesnt look like a Kustom job at all. does anyone have a clue about this????

Im bringing this post back from the dead because what the fuck is the point of starting a new one.

[Carl La Fong]

NOTE:

Whenever you hear a story like this always request some documentation. It sounds like pure BS but if the fellow claiming this has some real proof, then it happened. If not, it's a story.
Hogwash!!!
Why would GM, with millions of dollars at their disposal and hundreds of talented designers and fabricators on the payroll send a bunch of cars to "Sid's Zippy Auto Body and Screen Door Repair Service" and tell them to try and build a hardtop out of this because we just don't have the time, talent or experience to do it ourselves. Pure B.S.

[hotroddon]

I found one of these yesterday, it is a 1950 hard top, that is removable. It looks TOTALLY STOCK!!!!!....it doesnt look like a Kustom job at all. does anyone have a clue about this????

Im bringing this post back from the dead because what the fuck is the point of starting a new one.

OK, so let's see the proof then. How about a picture! :eek:

[rustynewyorker]

I'm looking for a Hart top for my '62 Bonneville, I expect it would be interchangeable with '61-'64 Pontiac, Buick, Olds, Cadillac and Chevrolet, I understand there was one called an Esquire? <--spelling? I maybe found one, but it's 2 states over, could somebody send me a photo or something?

Okay, but WTF does that have to do with this post from five years ago? Put a post in the wanted section of the classified.

[STEPHEN FIELDS]

OK, so let's see the proof then. How about a picture! :eek:

I'd like to see pics of one's from 1950

[stanlow69]

I'll try to get some pics and a closer look soon.I didn't have permission to be there.
In the first quote he said it was to far gone or he`d have it. Was he gonna steal it.

[chevyshack]

Since the original post was from 2004 maybe he went back for pics and got caught. Must be why there was never an update.

[brian26]

Hogwash!!!
Why would GM, with millions of dollars at their disposal and hundreds of talented designers and fabricators on the payroll send a bunch of cars to "Sid's Zippy Auto Body and Screen Door Repair Service" and tell them to try and build a hardtop out of this because we just don't have the time, talent or experience to do it ourselves. Pure B.S.


Because, every now and then 'Ole Sid does it better than the white collar grads.

[paulweldit]

Hmmmm!!

[STEPHEN FIELDS]

Hmmmm!!



HMMMMM>>>>never thought to check if the fricken roof was fiber glass!

[teddyp]

at the caddy nat,s was this 64 caddy conv. with a optional figerglass top a had the name of co. maybe that,s where it came from?

[onlychevrolets]

wheres all the Bull Shit yelling guys now?

[HEATHEN]

As the article starts out, "Appearing as an AFTERMARKET ITEM......". Big difference between that and factory issue.

[A Rodder]

Second thread read of the night, a good one.