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Old 07-05-2013, 11:46 AM   #115
Number 3
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Drives: '19 XT4 2.0T & '22 VW Atlas 2.0T
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Illinois
Posts: 12,156
Ok, posted many times before because simply............T-tops are loved by a lot of F-body fans.

First of all, for roof crush, FMVSS 216, convertibles are exempt. The Targa, or a roof similar to the one piece roof used on the Corvette makes it a convertible by the legal definition. Also by the legal definition, convertibles are exempted from FMVSS 216.

T-tops, on the other hand, do NOT get this exemption and must be tested as a coupe and meet all the standards a car with a full structural must meet. The structure that runs over the roof and joins the top of the windshield header to the top of the b-pillar is missing on a T-top car.

It's not to say you can't. You can do anything if you have enough $ and mass to add that structure back in. I'm just pretty sure no one would like the resulting appearance. It would be far from the sleek look of the earlier cars.

There is a reason why no one has T-tops in the US market right now. It's not like others are doing it and GM is choosing not to. There isn't anyone doing it for the structural reasons outlined above.

I wouldn't say "never" or "impossible" but it would be really, really, really hard to do.

Oh and there is that nasty water leak problem T-tops provide. Again, sealing is better in the last 10 years so that can like be overcome with a more robust design.
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