Does anyone make a hard top for the Roadster?

Would there be a way to attach one?

 

That would be nice! Like an old school corvette.

 

You can always fiber glass the soft top . . .

 

It is called a COUPE.

 

I'm sure he's talking about a removable hard top

At this point I would have been more interested in a second inside liner accessory for the winter days when I know I won't be using the top down... It would cover the handle so you won't forget it's there and make a mess

 

LOL!! I would think not. If you use the Mazda MX-5/Miata as an example, there are cleats at the rear to attach the back of the top to. The Roadster doesn't have these, so there would be no way to attach the top at the back of the car.

 

You know what they say: "when there is a will, there is a way"

 

When they came out with the roadster/coupe I thought it was kind of redundant, with the talk about the demise of the roadster, maybe a more cost effective solution is don't bring back the coupe and offer a removable hardtop for the roadster.
I don't mean to offend coupe owners, I love variety and choices!

Steve

 

I had a Suzuki Sidekick, the roof was slashed numerous times. It's a nasty little city.

The hardtop I bought for it clipped in somehow, there were these plastic slides and then you turned some huge fly-nut, it was after-market.

They only broke in a couple times after that.

 

The truth is a good majority of buyers in this already small convertible market will need some level of practical space. To make it a hard top they will need to increase the size of the MINI platform. That is somewhat delicate for them since they don't typically create a new chassis specifically for such smaller market size unless they would be convinced it would steal a good portion of market shares. It's a big gamble for a roadster unfortunately

I think having the coupe and roadster was a good strategy for MINI to see how far they could take the MINI line. All in all I believe it was not a loss for BMW. Sales aren't staler and why they feel they need better saler strategy but not a bad experience either so I'll stay optimistic . . . not really answering the OP question

The thought of having hard top accessory on top of the soft top mechanism when down is an interesting idea but I'm not sure there is enough of interest for anyone to develop one. I don't think it would necessarily need some large hardware, just a little creativity. It's not something you would put up and down all the time I think.

 

Precisely!

 

Beautiful Red Corvette!

When I was a teenager my boss had a 1958 that he let me take for a spin now and then. We would do the 2 man routine of taking the top on and off. Unforgettable memories. It had a 400ci Impala engine transplanted in it. Teal blue with white inserts not far off (little darker blue) than your model.

Much love for those cars! Thanks for sharing.

 

I had an MG Midget with a removable hard-top just like the OP wants. The problem is that it would be impossible to repeat that for the Roadster as there isn't a fixed rear 'deck' behind the soft top (like on that Corvette) - the boot/trunk lid goes right up to the base trim of the soft-top so there isn't anywhere for the back edge of a removable hardtop to sit.

It might be possible to add a removable hardtop if the whole soft-top was removed - that used to be required with some sports cars, but they didn't have soft tops of the complexity of even the Roadster (and they weren't as watertight as a modern soft top). Removing and refitting a Roadster soft-top at home sounds scary.

My uncle had a gull-wing-era Mercedes 190 (drool, drool) and he drove that into his garage until the windshield touched a tennis ball hanging on a string. That meant that one person could then use the four-part pulley system, made from boat rigging parts, to lower the hardtop straight onto the car. Even James Bond didn't have gadgetry that cool!

 

How about T-Tops?

 

My dad had a 57 vette and those tops were heavy...maybe that's the new wave of the future for Roadster/Coupe...retractable hard top.

You will not have a trunk if this does happen.

 

I had a 62 Vette that only had the hard top. Loved it and was easily removed and installed by myself.
However I can't count the number of times I had to dash home (if you go fast enough you stay dry) in a rainstorm to put the top back on.

 

Beautiful, yes. Fantastic, certainly but what on earth do you do with that top when it's not on the car?

 

Defeats having a roadster.......

 

BMW, Mazda, and Mercedes make retractable hardtop roadsters.

 

Yes they do hsautocrosser, but unlike the BMW, Mazda and Mercedes, the MINI Roadsters actually has a usable trunk.

 

I would also like to mention that you're likely to have a good old fashion case of whiplash in that beautiful Corvette.

 

I imagine it would go on with the softtop down. It would clamp over the chrome trim and use the same sockets on the windshield that the softtop uses.

It would stay in the garage in the summer.

Why you would say it defeats having a roadster?

 

On my old Vette that's how it worked, the top used the same latches the rag top used at the windsheild and the rear bottom just bolted to inset threaded inserts in the back.
I would assume an after market top could be made for the Mini roadster.
I belive the Pontiac Solstice had an after market hard top developed for it.
An hard top option is great when you are taking a long trip or in winter time.

 

yep

exactly what I had on my Miata. Older Benz roadsters had this too - called it the winter top. And the rebirthed T-Birds. I had a rolling stand for storage in the garage.

 

If "usable trunk space" is a concern, don't buy a roadster in the first place!

Seriously though, my Z4, with the top retracted, still has enough room for two decent sized duffle bags, more than enough for my wife and me, for a week-long road trip.