Roll Bars

Jay Laifman (Jay_Laifman(at)countrywide.com)
Thu, 28 May 1998 09:16:48 -0700


I have been looking through my old Horns and found a picture of an Alpine with a roll bar that seemed to fit the car better than the ones I usually see. The standard roll bar seems to be in the shape of a staple - 90 degree bends at both corners. This one has two bends at each corner. The first bend starts at about the level of the top of the doors, probably about 30 degrees, then the second bend at the top is about 60 degrees. These numbers are only guesses. They were clearly not 45 degrees and 45 degrees, with the first bend being a little more shallow. So maybe 30 is too small. There were also two tubes coming down and back from the top of the bar which seemed to start at the top bends.

Anyway, this flowed better with the car. I always felt the 90 degree ones looked too upright and only further emphasized the upright look of the car. The two bend style also seems to match better with the rounded tops of the doors.

I did mention the Boxster hoop style the other day, with one for each seat. However, I am worried that this will look too busy - and might look funny with the fins. It might even give the car a Batmobile look - you decide for yourself if that is bad or good.

I will ask Rick if his roll bar supplier can make any changes to the bar.