Most of this terminology springs from horse carriages, which had some even
more arcane terminology stretching back to when Ogg put a landau roof on
his oxcart, and Claudius' cabriolet chariot. Borrowing both from the
English tendancy to name things oddly (washing up soap--huh?), and the
French unwillingness to use any name that sounds somewhat English, the
names may have possessed some logic at one time, but that was a long time
ago. Add to the mix the necessity for professional bullshit artists like
me (marketers) to name the same old crap in a new and exciting way every
year, and you have instant Babel.
Don't try to sort it out--the Lord might smite the heck out of you and
none of us would be able to talk via email without translation.
-----Original Message-----
From: Brett Johnson [mailto:356drb@indy.net]
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 3:35 PM
To: BillDentin@aol.com; 'fot@autox.team.net'
Subject: Re: BRITISH CAR MAGAZINE
on 3/3/03 11:58 AM, BillDentin@aol.com at BillDentin@aol.com wrote:
>
> Anyway, there is an article about Jaguar XK120s, listing how many were
> made, which models, etc. As do other British marques, they make a
> distinction between Roadsters and Drop Head Coupes. I have never
> understood the difference. Can someone explain this to me.
Roadsters have removable windshields and no side windows. Drop Head
Coupes have painted molded in windshield frames and roll-up side windows.
Dashboards and interior trim are a bit more basic on the Roadster.
>
> Other marques (i.e., German, etc., also talk about Roadsters and
> Cabriolets) What's that all about?
>
Much the same -- the Porsche 356 that corresponds to the 120 Roadster was
the lineage that went America Roadster (1952), Speedster (1954 - 1959)
Convertible D (1959) and Roadster 1960 - 1962. All had chrome removeable
windshield frames. Cabriolets were built all years 1950 - 1965 and had a
higher, molded-in windshield frame. The latter was rarely used as the
basis for race cars due to weight and aerodynamics.
If anyone wants additional 356 information -- I'll try not to answer it
here.
Brett Johnson
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