Customs Carson Tops and other kinds as well

A better picture ?

 

I don't think I've ever seen an uglier Carson style top. Sure there are some examples out there that don't quite hit the mark, but this one is so far off that it's like missing the broad side of the barn.

The mechanical steps and techniques shown are neat to see, but the design is horrendous.

 

Is that for real? Lippy

 

Looks like it belongs on a pontoon /boat.

 

Right on! I had the same exact reaction but didn't want to call someone else's god awful taste into question. That abortion is a travesty and wholesale waste of time. talent and money.

 

Maybe that was the inspiration for GM's '59 & '60 flattop 4dr hardtops.

 

I think it looks real sharp and adds plenty of class.

 

Time for a bump. From Hop Up October of 51.

 

Seems all the modern type tops are heavy`er than heck and can't be lifted off the cars very well. But lets look at the original frame work off a original Carson style top. Or of copy of one. From a 36 Ford.

 

Thanks for posting picks stanlo69! I have complete '36 Roadster bows, and a couple front header wood pieces, would rather do a chopped Carson top, decisions, decisions!

 

@brigrat , post pic`s of the stock frame work from a 36 Roadster for comparison sake. It was for sale in the HAMB classifieds by Sledge a few years ago. .

 

Sorry Stanlow, Can get pic's when my windshield frame and posts come back from the platers...............

 

If you were a Custom Car Guy in the 40"s and 50's and you lived in Northern California , Halls Top Shop was the go to place. Harry Westergard and George Barris used Halls in the early days. My 40 Chevy has an original Hall Top installed around 1950. Here are some examples I collected through the years.

 

Here are a few more......





This Lincoln Photo was taken from the wall of Halls shop after it was closed.

 

The Fred Creller (Ron Brooks) Chevy and Harry Costa (Marcus Edell) Ford ,both still have their original Hall tops today!

 

My top isn't made like a Carson top. It was welded up in sheet aluminum by Don Dillard's shop, who built the rest of the car for me. The aluminum top was covered, inside and out, by Sid Chavers. It's designed as a lift-off, like a Carson, although it's never been off the car. Its shape is copied from a '42 Ford convert with quarter windows, which a '40 convert normally doesn't have:

 

Oops. It's been pointed out to me that I posted the same 2 pictures in this thread last December. Absent-mindedness is a real thing past a certain age. Sorry about that.

 

Chavez ---- Found another one. With a little more information in HONK magazine from November of 53.

 

I was curious as to what your top weighs. I’ve been thinking about building an aluminum liftoff top for my 39 convertible. Your top looks so much better than the 40 style convertible top. Much better proportioned.

 

Harry Costa`s as it appeared in Car Craft in 1956.

 

My top has never been weighed. Don Dillard, who built it, says that two men can lift it but it's not really light. Thanks for the compliment.

 

1956 Car Craft.

 

Rod and Custom June 1957. Tunnel Motors of Walnut Creek California installed the 56 Ford cowl and windshield. A Hall built padded top.

 

Rod and Custom 1957.

 

^^^^^^^^^^That looks like a recent Carson type top build, who did it?^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

https://kustomrama.com/wiki/Joe_Moreno's_1941_Ford

 

I don't think that anything done to this car was an improvement. ESPECIALLY the top.

 

I`m just posting what is out there as far as tops. People can make their own judgements on what they like and what they don`t. Hopefully people are learning a bit as I proceed with this thread.

 

Chopped Carson style top on my 51 Merc, custom channel and tube frame, skinned in aluminum covered by North Hollywood Upholstery Shop.