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Ok, I've looked up the definitions on the Internet but the only thing I understood was that although all roadsters are convertibles not all convertibles are roadsters. It really didn't describe what makes the difference. Is this a distinction without a difference? I own a 66 convertible but what would make it a "roadster"?
The first Corvettes were roadsters...no roll up side windows but a convertible top. They had canvas side curtains to keep out the weather. Once the cars got roll up side windows they ceased being roadsters and became convertibles. At least correctly speaking.......Dave
In the teens and 20's, two seaters without a top were speedsters, while two seaters with a folding top were a roadster. Four seaters with a folding top were touring cars. Roadsters and touring cars usually had removable side curtains. Generally, roadsters had two doors, and tourings had four. Only coupes and sedans had roll up windows.
In the late 20's, soft top cars with roll up windows, started to become available. Two seat versions were know as cabriolets, and the four seat ones were called convertible sedans.
By the mid 30's in the US, roadsters and tourings had ceased to exist, being replaced by the far more practical, and water tight, cabriolets and convertible sedans. In the late 30's, automakers started offering four seat, two door soft top body styles that were called club convertibles.
When car production resumed after WWII, I think only Packard was still offering a traditional, four door convertible sedan. Most other automakers were now selling two door, four seat soft tops, and the term convertible was now being used to describe any soft top car with roll up windows. Initially after the war, only the Europeans were making true roadsters, mainly in the form a small, light weight sports cars like the MG. It wasn't to long after that the MG was joined by the Jag XK120, Corvette, Kaiser Darrin, and other sporty two seat roadsters.
Today two seat convertibles with or without roll up windows, are often referred to as roadsters, but the last true roadster sold in the US, was probably the first generation Vipers.
The fact is, the absolute literal correct term for a Corvette would be a convertible, not a roadster.
However, much like the use of terms like "frame off" etc, some labels are just commonly used in conversation.
When I bought my first Corvette in the 70s, Corvette convertibles were commonly referred to as "roadsters" in the Corvette community. It continues today.
I'm not sure the argument is worth it. I guarantee correcting an owner won't win any friends.
1959 MGA ROADSTER with detachable side windows stored in the 'boot'...
A PITA when a quick thundershower cropped up.....drove it for 3 years... It came with hand crank for starting the engine through a hole in center of the front bumper. I had to do it a few times to show my unbelieving pals...
1959 MGA ROADSTER with detachable side windows stored in the 'boot'...
A PITA when a quick thundershower cropped up.....drove it for 3 years... It came with hand crank for starting the engine through a hole in center of the front bumper. I had to do it a few times to show my unbelieving pals...
So my '59 AH Sprite was a roadster but my '67 MG was a convertible. Never thought about that.
And, yes, the removable side windows on the Sprite were a PITA in a quick storm. So was the top since the frame and the fabric were both stowed in the boot and had to be installed rather than just raised. Didn't matter much, though. Same amount of water got in regardless if the windows and top were on or off.
1959 MGA ROADSTER with detachable side windows stored in the 'boot'...
A PITA when a quick thundershower cropped up.....drove it for 3 years... It came with hand crank for starting the engine through a hole in center of the front bumper. I had to do it a few times to show my unbelieving pals...
Times have changed, can you imagine driving something like that on a daily basis now?
In the 70's, a high school buddy of mine had an Austin Healey 100-4. Every day for 3 years, he drove it from Cherry Hill NJ to Rutgers University, a trip of about 60 miles each way. Cold, rain, snow, ice, it made no difference. It had useless sliding Plexiglass side curtains, a useless little heater under the dash, and rusted out floors. I don't know how he did it!
He had no mechanical ability at all, so I spent a lot of time working on it's twin SU's and it's God awful Lucas Electrics. Back then I hated that car, but I have a lot of good memories of it now!
Not to throw gas on the fire, but what is the difference between a coupe and a sedan? My 57 Coronet was sold new as a "Club Coupe," but today it is commonly referred to as a 2-door sedan.
Not to throw gas on the fire, but what is the difference between a coupe and a sedan? My 57 Coronet was sold new as a "Club Coupe," but today it is commonly referred to as a 2-door sedan.
In the 20's and 30's, a coupe was a two seater with two doors, a club coupe was a four seater with two doors, and a business coupe was a club coupe with an empty space where the back seat would go. Coupe bodies had a trunk or rumble seat.
Sedans were four seaters with either two or four doors. Unlike a coupe body, which had a shorter roof and a trunk, sedans had a full length roof and no trunk (or sometimes a very small bustle back trunk). Henry Ford called his sedans Tudors and Fordors.
In the late 40's and early 50's, some makers still offered coupes and business coupes. As wheelbases grew and cars became bigger, coupes were replaced by two door sedans, which had longer roofs and larger interiors than coupes, but also had a trunk.
When hardtops came along in the mid 50's, any fixed roof car with a traditional "B" pillar became known as a sedan, and anything with an open "greenhouse" and no "B" pillar was called a hardtop.
gbvette62, I just learned so much from your posts in this thread. So much automotive history out there. Anyway, just to add my 2cents....., I always called soft top cars "Rag Tops", Coupes "Coupes" and Sedans "Post Cars".
02-08-2017, 09:12 PM
Convertible V Roadster
Dave
