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#652027 22/07/20 06:06 PM
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Having tried a quick google and got the usual conflicting answers I thought i'd try the sensible and erudite denizens of TM.


What's the difference between a:

Drop Head Coupe

Convertible

Cabriolet

Roadster

Spider

And any others you can think of.

Some may be genuinely different and some just alternative names for the same thing.


K

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This may help a little:

A convertible (Cabriolet) is a car where you open the soft top when the sun is shining.

A Roadster is a car where you close the soft top in the rain.....

Last edited by bmgermany; 22/07/20 06:56 PM.

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Originally Posted by bmgermany
This may help a little:

A convertible (Cabriolet) is a car where you open the soft top when the sun is shining.

A Roadster is a car where you close the soft top in the rain.....


rofl That's probably true.


Bob

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Scruffy Oik
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The other big difference is that a DHC or cabriolet has full height doors whereas a roadster has cutaway doors with removable tops.

Spiders live behind the glass of your wing mirrors.


Tim H.
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Tricky Dicky
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I'm with you on this Keith, the DHC is only good as far as early Morgan are concerned to me they are the same thing, I shall be most interested to read of a clear definition of each though waiting

Well an Audi with a jigsaw is a cabriolet in the making isn't it..


2009 4/4 Sport Henrietta
1999 Indigo Blue +8
2009 4/4 Sport Green prev
1993 Con Green +8 prev





Image #652052 22/07/20 09:18 PM
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S
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S
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I am amazed at the number of soft top cars I see with the roof up in good weather. Why buy such a car if you don’t go topless whenever possible?


Plus Four MY23 Furka Rouge
sospan #652053 22/07/20 09:21 PM
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Tricky Dicky
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Whimps with the Aircon on grin2

The giveaway is the windows wound up in high temperatures I see it a lot down here in summer mostly German and Japanese one's.


2009 4/4 Sport Henrietta
1999 Indigo Blue +8
2009 4/4 Sport Green prev
1993 Con Green +8 prev





Image #652057 22/07/20 09:42 PM
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DHC .... seems to be the full height doors that is important (tho the tops are removable on the Morgan DHC I think, but not sidescreens like the rest of the range) ... also a fixed hood rather than a hood frame with a removable cover (not sure if the Morgan DHC has this) .

K

+8Rich #652058 22/07/20 09:44 PM
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Originally Posted by +8Rich
I'm with you on this Keith, the DHC is only good as far as early Morgan are concerned to me they are the same thing, I shall be most interested to read of a clear definition of each though waiting

Well an Audi with a jigsaw is a cabriolet in the making isn't it..


There are no definitions that are consistent over time, place or manufacturer. This page has some good definitions, but marketing has perverted these. For example Mercedes says a roadster is a sporty two seater convertible, because there's no chance their customers would accept something without wind up windows.


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JCK Offline
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A spider is another name for roadster (a sporty two seater convertible). All of these styles are convertibles. A drophead coupe is simply a convertible coupe.


JCK
1960 Plus 4 Roadster
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