Some Awkward Convertible Top Designs

A fairly easy job for American automobile stylists around 1950 was the creation of a design for a convertible.  Mostly it required razing the top off a coupé or two-door sedan and replacing it with a retractible canvas top design.  And those designs were largely shaped by engineering requirements.

That task became more difficult to a greater or lesser degree when the shape of the source of the derivation interfered.  Below are images of some American convertibles from that era whose canvas top (and related sheet metal) designs were more or less awkward.  Unless noted, the photos are of cars listed for sale.

Gallery

First, a 1949 Chevrolet (Mecum auction photo).  General Motors stylists were at the top of their game, and the raised convertible top is attractive.  This was in spite of the rounded trunk lid and the body shape falling off towards the rear, two elements that might have led to a less satisfactory result.

This 1949 Hudson Commodore 8 convertible retained some coupé sheet metal above the windshield, an unusual touch.

This was probably done to simplify convertible top engineering.

Aside from that detail, the raised top shown in this Bonhams auction is a little too angular due to its ribbing placement.

Packard's postwar major facelift was a design failure, though convertibles looked better that the rest of the line.  That said, the top on this 1950 Packard (Mecum photo) is not nearly as cleanly designed as that of the Chevy in the top photo.

Side view of a 1948 Packard.  The car has a fine, long hood, but the back passenger seats are fairly close to the curved rear, affecting the top design.  A much more awkward setting than for that Chevy.

1949 Lincoln Cosmopilitan convertible.  I'm not sure if the double-backlight was standard design.

The distinguishing feature of Cosmo convertible tops is the wide "C-pillar" zone.  These cars were large and somewhat bulky looking, but the top's design fits the rest of the car well.

Lesser Lincolns such as the 1949 model in this and the following Mecum photos shared bodies with Mercury.

Like the Packard shown previously, the passenger compartment sits somewhat aft, and the trunk lid is short and curved downwards.  The result is a top design that looks bulky rather than graceful.

The 1950 Nash Rambler seen in these Mecum photos was the most successful sales-wise compact American car at the time.  It used a unit body structure which helps explain why the side windows have fixed structural framing.  The canvas top was simply pulled up or down along these "rails" rather than by a more elaborate mechanism.

However, the result was rather dumpy looking, and the slab-sided body with minimal wheel cutouts added to the problem.  Because the car was small, these defects were not as strong as they might have been on a standard-size car.

Kaiser and Frazer cars starting in the 1949 model year included convertible sedans having four doors.

The tops were large and not particularly attractive.  An unusual detail is the faux-B-pillar featuring a small, vertical window.  Again, the short, rounded trunk lid made the top design less attractive than it might have been otherwise.