# What happened to t-tops? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524 "2003-10-30T21:48:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colinmarshall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Colinmarshall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colinmarshall)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/1 "2003-10-30T21:48:49Z")
I have always believed t-tops (or the "t-roof,’ or “t-bar roof”) to be the best configuration for open-air driving, but apparently auto manufacturers have stopped agreeing with me. Ten, fifteen years ago, it was easy to check the “t-top” box as an option for your new car, but in 2003, zero cars (by my count) offer them. What happened? Have they been ruled unsafe, or too pricey, or what? When General Motors 86ed the Firebird and Camaro last year, with it went the only model(s) to still offer the venerable removable roof panels. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/2 "2003-10-30T22:09:00Z")
I love them too! They’re the perfect modern version of a convertible (a fabric roof in 2003?! I don’t think so!) I bought my previous car, a 91 Nissan NX, just because it had one. I think the reasons they’re not made is:[ul][li]They’re expensive[/li][li]They introduce saftey concerns (failing crash tests)[/li]People never seem to use them[/ul]I especially notice the last one. People are too lazy to bother to take them off, they don’t feel safe leaving them off while parked (can’t lock the car, it might rain, etc.) If they really want the ‘open air ride’ they get a convertible for push-button convenience. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/4 "2003-10-31T00:35:28Z")
All those things, plus the hundreds of warranty claims from folks who got wet when the t-tops didn’t keep the rain out. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/5 "2003-10-31T00:51:43Z")
Yeah, mine leaked. ☹ Real big pain-in-the-ass sometimes… Mine had a lock cylinder in them as well. You needed the ignition key to unlock & remove them making them less easy to steal. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/6 "2003-10-31T00:52:04Z")
As **nimble** suggests, they all got stolen. It got to be a bad enough problem here that the insurance companies would not cut you a check for a loss - they provided you new ones instead. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/7 "2003-10-31T01:07:46Z")
I looked mine up in a Nissan parts book. **$1200 each!** ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/8 "2003-10-31T01:20:16Z")
I wonder, might it also have been the reappearance of real convertibles? There was a period of about ten years - 1975-1985 when there were no convertibles made in the US and very few sold here. I suspected the T-Top was sort of an in-between measure. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/9 "2003-10-31T01:31:13Z")
Now, folding metal tops are all the rage. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/10 "2003-10-31T12:27:30Z")
I always thought they vanished along with (the old, good) Van Halen, chest hair (yuck!), and Trans Am’s (highway wonderland!). Not that that’s not a _bad_ thing… ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/11 "2003-10-31T12:59:04Z")
There may also be some technological, structural issues as well. For a long time, one of the most difficult aspects of making a convertible was to build one that still had a reasonably high level of structural rigidity. The metal roof, and the pillars that attach it to the car, play a big part in the strength of the car; when they are removed, the whole chassis is much more likely to twist and feel loose during cornering and other maneuvers. The t-top gave open-air motoring without the structural compromise of removing the roof and the pillars altogether. It’s possible that, as the ability to construct torsion-free (or at least torsion-minimized) convertibles increased, there was simply less need for a t-top design. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/12 "2003-10-31T15:24:29Z")
Convertibles made a comeback at the expense of T Tops…just as T Tops thrived when convertibles were darn near obsolete thru the 70’s and 80’s. Rebirth of converts = death of t-tops. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/13 "2003-10-31T15:27:19Z")
Our last car was a Nissan 100NX with a targa top. We didn’t open the top very often, to be honest. This was partly to do with the British climate, but we also couldn’t really be bothered to unlock it and stow the bits in the back. The seal between the window and the top became slightly leaky, which was annoying. ---
**Author:** ![NYR407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@NYR407](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYR407)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/14 "2003-10-31T16:27:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Una Persson \* > \*\*I always thought they vanished along with (the old, good) Van Halen, chest hair (yuck!), and Trans Am’s (highway wonderland!). Not that that’s not a _bad_ thing… \*\* Well my cousin has a 2000 (or 2001) Trans Am with T-Tops. He bought is slightly used so he didn’t actually have it installed as an option. BTW I am sure he has an old/good Van Halen CD in there as well. The Trans Am he has is an Anniversary Edition so perhaps they offered the T-Tops as a nostalgic type option. At least one person bought into it. The chest hair I can’t attest to but the others are still roaming the streets together. ---
**Author:** ![keithnmick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@keithnmick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keithnmick)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/15 "2003-10-31T18:42:37Z")
The Corvette coupe comes with a removable, transparent or body color panel, which is pretty much a T top (although it doesn’t split in two). ---
**Author:** ![keithnmick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@keithnmick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keithnmick)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/16 "2003-10-31T18:43:55Z")
and here’s a link: [http://www.chevrolet.com/corvette/model\_coupe.htm](http://www.chevrolet.com/corvette/model_coupe.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Colinmarshall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Colinmarshall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colinmarshall)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/17 "2003-10-31T18:57:16Z")
Aww, but without the twin panels, it doesn’t make a “T” shape! ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/18 "2003-10-31T19:07:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Colinmarshall \* > \*\*Aww, but without the twin panels, it doesn’t make a “T” shape! \*\* Exacty. That’s a targa design, not a t-top… ---
**Author:** ![NYR407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@NYR407](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYR407)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/19 "2003-10-31T19:21:18Z")
Ok my cousin must have a 99 Trans Am since that was the Anniversary Edition. Here a pic of someone else’s, complete with T-Tops, I found during a web search. I don’t know what they were thinking with that paint job. The racing stripes do not work with that car. [http://www.fbody.com/members/30thWS6/MyWs69.JPG](http://www.fbody.com/members/30thWS6/MyWs69.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-t-tops/210524/20 "2003-10-31T19:33:58Z")
Aren’t mullets standard equipment with T-Tops?