Hardtop

A hardtop is a rigid form of automobile roof, typically metal, and integral to the vehicle's design, strength, and style.

A pillarless hardtop is inherently less rigid than a pillared body, requiring extra underbody strength to prevent shaking.

The hardtop design received criticism that its roof structure may not provide adequate protection during a rollover crash.

[7] However, subsequent research reported that rates of serious or fatal injury in hardtop models (both two- and four-door versions), as well as four-door station wagons, were significantly lower than sedans while the rates of any degree of injury for those same body styles were also significantly lower.

[8] The hardtop body style began to disappear along with convertibles in the mid-1970s, partly out of a concern that U.S. federal safety regulations would be onerous for pillarless models to pass.

[16] Automobile dealers were encouraged to equip an open car with a California top to demonstrate that they were "cool and clean in summer, and warm and dry in winter.

The Kaiser-Frazer 1949 Virginian was an early example of a four-door hardtop albeit with a removable thin, chrome- and-glass 'B' pillar held on by five screws.

[23] The car was designed to have a convertible look and padded nylon or cotton was applied over the roof contributing to the soft-top appearance.

[26][27] Following the pattern established by the two-door variants, GM utilized the same special sub-designations for the pillarless four-door body types within all their brands in North America.

The term de Ville was used for Cadillac, Riviera was used for Buick, Holiday was used for Oldsmobile, Catalina was used for Pontiac, and Bel Air was used for Chevrolet.

Nash used the Country Club moniker while pillarless Studebakers were Starliners, a name that was later used by Ford for its Galaxie hardtop.

General Motors restyled their new models and offered four-door hardtops from every division and nearly every series except the lowest-priced lines.

So prevalent were true hardtops that Popular Mechanics had to describe that the new full-sized 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont models even included a "pillar" sedan.

British pillarless hardtops included the Sunbeam Rapier and the Ford Consul Capri (355) which, unlike American models, sold fewer cars than their regular center pillar saloon versions.

A New Mini two-door sedan has been marketed as a hardtop in the U.S. includes a structural B-pillar on the inside that is disguised on the exterior by a black border on the fixed rear windows.