sodaking663rd

I always wanted a car with t-tops and i'm not aware of any car that is manufactured with them anymore. I hope some car manufacturer will re-introduce them.
The reason i brought this topic up is i am wondering if anyone has any information on why they have disappeared...or any info on future models incorporating them. Thanks all!

Tex2000

I have them on my 2000 Trans Am. I have taken them off once. On the other hand, My wife drives a 2005 Altima SE-R with a sunroof. I open the sunroof everytime I drive the car. Convenience maybe?

CG

I've had them on several cars. The only one I regularly removed them on was a Corvette that didn't have glass T-tops. I have no idea why they're gone or if they'll ever make a comeback.

Penforhire

I remember enjoying them on a 1982 280ZX. Maybe they are expensive, compared to a moonroof?

brockLT1

I take them off of my 97 Z/28 all the time, gotta enjoy this AZ weather while you can. I think they are a lot of fun and one of the selling points to my car. I think I would like a targa top better, but the T-Tops come off in under a minute, and arent really a hassle in any way. They leak when it rains once in a blue moon. I like how they are clear also. Most importantly, the GF loves them, and they get a lot of looks because you just dont see them everyday.

Perhaps if they ever bring back the F-Body, we will see them again. Till then, targa tops are great.

S2kracka

I relate T-tops with mullets

brockLT1

haha this is true!

Traveler

I had glass t-tops on an 83 Camaro. I thought they had their good and bad points -- mainly bad.

Good

- You could get that top-down driving feel on warm summer evenings.
- Your passenger can keep their eyes up in "patrolled by aircraft" areas even when the tops are in place.
- They look nice and shiny even when the rest of the car's cheap-ass paint is turning to powder.

Bad
- When you take them out you lose almost all of your cargo capacity.
- You're driving a greenhouse. It wasn't unusual for me to use my AC in January. During the summer the tinted glass in the tops would get very host, and would radiate that heat at you regardless of how hard the AC was blowing.
- In the case of my Camaro, I don't think the car had received any additional reenforcement to make up for the holes in the roof. The car had a huge amount of body flex.
- They are very expensive to replace when they break. The body flex did mine in. I was driving diagonally over a dip when the passenger side top shattered into a zillion pieces. Good thing it wasn't raining at the time. A friend of mine was driving his Mustang on the freeway when his passenger looked up at the handle for the t-top, said "what's this do?", and flipped the handle. No second date for her!

Unlike many people, I never had leak problems except when I was washing the car. Soapy water could make its way past the seals, but I never had problems with rain.

sodaking663rd

i think the later models of f-body chevys fixed a lot of the problems regarding flex in the body.
they certainly aren't the most convenient method of open air but they look really nice especially on a light colored car. the 80's and early 90's were full of t-tops so there must be a pretty good reason why they have all disappeared.

wwwracer

i saw a bad ass cobra with a t-top here in las vegas last week. it was probably somewhere between an '00-'04.