Had the soft top that came with the GTN today. A few interesting things about it.
First, unlike the soft top on my S3 & S4, it has a heated glass rear screen.
Secondly, it folds down low. Or at least lower than many S1's I've seen. In fact I would say it folds down slightly lower than the S3 and S4 which makes me happy as I was worried it might sit up high.
Whilst not as flat as I would prefer, it is definitely sufficient to see behind with the rear view mirror.
Looking at GTN #1 it had a soft top as well but with a plastic wide aperture rear window but in the photos I've seen of it, the hood folds down quite low too.
So, it would seem that 3 of the 11 have a soft top. Just wondering where the others are and if any of them went for the soft top as well?
Hi Shooter, My S1 has a heated rear window - if that was standard then they went "backwards" going to plastic ones on the later models? Or was it an issue?Mine also folds completely flat. Good luck with the GTN - fabulous car T
The plastic rear window in my S3 is pretty horrid but you can see reasonably well through it. I would MUCH prefer the smaller glass heated thing on the S1 which looks 20x better.
But my roof does fit quite well and only leaks substantially in very poor weather. My legs stay generally dry! I try to avoid putting the roof up but it's quite cosy and bright and there's decent headroom. Sadly the side exhausts don't sound as good and there's more noise from the rear axle and drivetrain generally, although it's not too bad once you accept nothing's actually broken.
You guys were asking about the number of GTNs made a few posts ago I seem to remember.
On the Morgan History Website 1973 to Present , one poster claimed there were 11 manufactured. I have asked for clarification on this number, i.e.: does it include the race cars, were there any prototypes etc.
Will keep you updated.
Andy G 1999 +8 , Indigo Blue. Ex-John McKecknie/Mike Duncan 1955 +4 racer.
Shooter - the early s1s - at least the first year of production had super low folding roofs. These had the glass screen and 'tensioner' handles.
There is a clever knack to folding the roof that leaves it pretty much flush with the bodywork which is one of the most appealing traits of the s1 vs the 'pram' hood on the later series.
Happy to pop by if you want and show you how it's done. I did post it up here ages ago but the pics will long since have left the old webserver.. Will see if I can find them...
Might be good to post a pic of the roof so I can confirm its a 'standard' early s1 roof setup...
The bad news with the roof now it has been fitted is it doesn't sit as low as when we had it just resting in position. This is because of where the pivot point is bolted to the inside edge of the car.
From what I've seen of S1 hoods, there seems to be a number of different designs so and as the GTN's were towards the end of the S1 run it may be they won't be able to squash down as well.
However, I have put the hard top in my garage and will run with the soft top for a while.
Would love to see if the clever knack works though!
The soft top doesn't seem to like the finishing trim that is in place with the hardtop so will have to get something made up to cover a couple of exposed areas on the inside to make it look nice and neat.
