Cloth Tops?

[Lukas]

To those up on the Merc lineup:

Did Mercedes ever make a vehicle with a cloth top - that is, black vinyl stuff glued to the metal roof of a car?

Or did someone in Cambodia do it for them?

Lukas

 

[Des]

Never seen a Benz like that,

it was very common in Australia in the 1970's and 80's for cars to have the tops added after a car had suffered a hail storm or bad paint, rust

remember the nasty storms that hit Sydney a few years back?

Stuff like that is what sneaky sales people like to cover up.

 

[Michel]

Probably more a status symbol in Cambodia....

 

[Lukas]

OK, thought so, thanks. Car bling is certainly popular here - still trying to assemble photographic evidence, but of course I never have the camera handy.

 

[Styria]

Hi Lukas, it is amazing what one can see in an Asian country and I would imagine that Cambodia would be no different. The cloth or vinyl tops were a fashion statement in the seventies, and even the Humber Super Snipe, finished up with a vinyl top when they manufactured the Humber-Chrysler Imperial - but like with so many things British at the time, that car couldn't prevent the Humber Company from going under. More so's the pity as they produced some lovely cars - think back to the Hillman Minx (lovely car), the little Humber Vogue, the Sumbeam Rapier - yeah, not bad.

Even I had a Humber Vogue I bought for $120.00 and, apart from a new radiator, did not have to spend a cent on the car for a full twelve months of constant use, and then sold it for $180.00. Big business ! Regards Styria

 

[BenzBoy]

Vinyl roofs were somewhat of a fashion statement in the 1970s.
Have a look at this link for what Ford did - or allowed to be done to its products:
http://www.aus-ford-uk.co.uk/html/vinyl_roofs.html
One of the distinguishing feature or some, not all, R-R Spurs and Bentley Turbo RLs was an Everflex roof. Just a vinyl top in other words. Some people of course, ordered their car with leather rather than vinyl. An Everflex roof was an optional delete.
Regards,
BenzBoy

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Hi Lukas, it is amazing what one can see in an Asian country and I would imagine that Cambodia would be no different. The cloth or vinyl tops were a fashion statement in the seventies, and even the Humber Super Snipe, finished up with a vinyl top when they manufactured the Humber-Chrysler Imperial - but like with so many things British at the time, that car couldn't prevent the Humber Company from going under. More so's the pity as they produced some lovely cars - think back to the Hillman Minx (lovely car), the little Humber Vogue, the Sumbeam Rapier - yeah, not bad.

Even I had a Humber Vogue I bought for $120.00 and, apart from a new radiator, did not have to spend a cent on the car for a full twelve months of constant use, and then sold it for $180.00. Big business ! Regards Styria

Unfotunately I was at that cheap car age in the seventies when these models were available for a 'tenner' in London. Had a few different ones, but I do remember the last Humber Sceptre was the dressed up Hillman Hunter with vinyl roof and wood on the dash, maybe twin carbs too, not that they did anything except waste petrol, but it was considered essential at the time. The neatest thing in that car was the little coloured plastic "Idiot" lights on the dash, could be switched up and down to make them brighter or dimmer, without any need for electrical trickery. The plastic part was made thicker on one side than the other, hence, more or less light comes through, and would click into position.
If only there was more of that sort of smart thinking, the once mighty Brits might still be making cars, but alas............
Anyway, good cars in their day, but as an indicator of the brains behind the decline of the British car industry, there was a story that Lord Rootes had visited Wolfsburg after WW2 when the allies were sharing out the goodies, and decided against manufacturing VWs as that weird rear-engined 'People's Car' had no future.
Although at least Bristol had the class to nick the BMW six.
Chris