Yep. The "B" bodies (Buick Special/Century, Olds 88/98,) "C" bodied (Pontiac & Chev) got the 4-door hardtops in 1955. "A" bodies, Buick RM, Super, Cadillac got them in 1956. But no '54 models had 4-door hardtops. Bob --- Anthony Foster <monkeypuzzle1@xxxxxxx> wrote: > Bill B. and All; > Are you sure that the four door hardtop started > with the G.M line-up in 1955? I remember seeing a > 1954 Olds Rocket 88 that was a four door hardtop in > a storage compound. Actually the,"hardtop", is a > much older concept in roof design then 1946. In the > early 20's Studebaker had a body style with what > they called a,"Duplex Top", which looked very > similar to a hardtop roof. The idea was actually to > offer an inexpensive compromise between a sedan and > a drop top car. > In those days closed cars were much more expensive > then rag top cars because of the labour and > materials involved in not only building the roof > structure but in constructing the upper halves of > the doors above the belt line and the extra windows > . A duplex top had a hard roof like a sedan but had > removable window frames making them much cheaper to > build. In fact, with the side windows out, it looked > like a four door hardtop. > A newer example, although not an American car, was > in the Peugeot 402 series in 1937. There was a model > called the, "Eclipse", that had a retractable metal > roof that stowed away into the trunk. With the roof > up it looked just like a two door hardtop and the > window frames rolled down with the glass just like > the 1950's ones. The Eclipse also had a back seat > like its American successors. I suppose this car > would be the most honest example of a Hardtop > Convertible with the exception of the 1957 Ford > Skyliner.. > Best Regards > Arran Foster > 1954 Imperial Newport > Needing A Left Side Taillight Bezel and othe trim > parts. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: TheCarNutz@xxxxxxx > To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 2:01 PM > Subject: Re: IML: The term "hardtop" > > > In a message dated 3/5/02 9:00:23 AM Pacific > Standard Time, gimpineer@xxxxxxxx writes: > > > > Being just older than dirt, I was around when > "Hardtops" were introduced. > D^2 is correct. This was a new concept, at last > for the major car > makers. > Previously only convertibles had an unobstructed > window opening from > front to rear. > If I remember correctly, Willys Aero had the > first one in 1952. > > > You're absolutely correct, as I am also getting > to be one of those "old guys over there." I was in > my teens in the 50's and saw all those great new > cars. Actually the first "hardtop convertible" was > the 2 door 1949 Buick Riviera, and was so named > because it looked like a convertible but with a > steel top, and no post between the front & rear, and > the drivers door window was just like the > convertible with the chrome around the glass. And > as previously mentioned, in 1955 GM introduced the > "4 door hardtop," which again eliminated the post > between the front & rear door area. Probably some > of the rarest Chrysler products found today are the > "50's" 4 door hardtops, and my 57 Imperial > Southampton is certainly one of them. > > Bill B. > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/