Some cars have fixed roofs; others have folding cloth roofs – and a very special few have small removable sections of the roof that let the sunshine in when they’re out, and let a tiny bit of rain in when they’re installed. Today we’re going to take a look at two such cars, and pay our respects to that most badass of all roof types: the T-top.
Yesterday we looked at two cars with big rear spoilers, and I figured the Thunderbird was going to win. Rear-wheel-drive and a manual transmission gave it the edge, I think, despite its electrical gremlins and higher price. The Iron Duke/TH125 combo in the Grand Am just couldn’t compete.
However, I’m going to play devil’s advocate and cast my vote for the Grand Am. At this point, I would rather do upkeep on a slow car than try to revive a faster one with issues. Maybe I’m just getting old, but polishing up an old Pontiac on weekends sounds relaxing.
T-tops on a production car first appeared on the 1968 Corvette, and they really gained popularity in the late 1970s in the absence of convertibles. They seem to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it car features; either you think they’re unbelievably cool, or you have had some that leaked on you and are over them. I’ve never had a car with T-tops, so I still think they’re cool. For today, I’ve found two great examples of T-top cars: one that had them as standard equipment, and another that should have. Let’s check them out.
1989 Nissan Pulsar NX XE – $4,500
Engine/drivetrain: 1.6 liter OHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Seattle, WA
Odometer reading: 155,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
The Nissan Pulsar was available in a variety of bodystyles in other parts of the world, but we only got one: the two-door coupe. For the second generation, that meant standard T-tops and a removable hatchback that could be replaced with a station wagon-style cover known as the Sportbak. This one doesn’t have the Sportbak; it was a rare option then, and it’s nearly impossible to find now. But you can still remove the T-top panels and the hatch for open-air fun.
The Pulsar never was a high-performance car; you could get a turbocharged engine in the first generation and a twin-cam engine in this one, but the standard engine was a single-cam 12 valve engine shared with the Sentra. It makes the most of its 92 horsepower with a five-speed manual transmission. This one has had four owners, and comes with service records going all the way back to 1994. It’s in great mechanical shape, and has been driven daily for the past three years.
The interior positively screams ’80s, with its accordion shift boot, side pods on the instrument panel, and tape deck in the dash. The seller has installed new Pioneer speakers in the doors, so your INXS tapes should sound pretty good. It’s all in great shape, and the seller says everything works fine. The T-top seals do seep a bit in the rain, but to be fair, Seattle weather is a test of any window seals.
There are so many great little details on the outside of this car: the pop-up headlights, the diagonal lines on the taillights, the door handles set into the edges of the doors. It’s unmistakable from anything else. This one is in fine shape, though it does have a little crease in the driver’s side door, and some unevenly-faded paint. Still, the seller says it turns a lot of heads, and I believe it.
1994 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 – $5,000
Engine/drivetrain: 5.7 liter OHV V8, six-speed manual, RWD
Location: Redding, CA
Odometer reading: 96,000 miles
Operational status: Has been sitting for a while, needs a battery
Though it seems like the Chevy Camaro had T-tops all along, they didn’t actually become available until 1978, well into the car’s second generation. But after that, they became a fixture, and no well-dressed Z28 was complete without them. The fourth-generation Camaro and Firebird were to be the last cars with T-tops, but they wore them well. In fact, any time I feature a Camaro here without T-tops, someone comments on the lack of them. So here you go.
Not only does this Camaro Z28 have T-tops, it also has the T56 six-speed manual transmission. The seller says this car belongs to their grandmother, who stopped driving it three years ago. It has been sitting since then, so it will need some waking up. The battery needs replacing, and all the fluids should be changed, at the minimum. But once you get it going again, you’ll enjoy 275 horses from that LT1 V8. Go Granny go.
It only has 96,000 miles on it, and Granny obviously took care of it, so it’s in a lot better shape inside than your average fourth-gen Camaro. This is also the first time in a long time that I’ve seen a detachable-face stereo with the face actually detached. People still do that? I think the face comes off the one in my truck, but I’ve never actually removed it.
It has been parked outside all this time, which is a good test of the T-top seals, but it’s hell on the clearcoat. All the horizontal surfaces are dull. Whether or not it’s worth repainting is up to you. At least, as a California car, it should be rust-free. Redding gets its share of snow, but they don’t salt the roads.
Open-air driving can be a wonderful thing, but convertibles are kind of a pain in the ass. T-tops seem like a good compromise: snug and warm in the winter, but letting plenty of summer sun and fresh air in. Almost no one makes them anymore, and I think that’s a shame. We could use more fun and fresh air in cars these days. But at least we’ve got these two. Which one is more your style?
In this case, I’ll go with the Camaro. Way more fun. But I know that when the time comes to change the spark plugs, I’m gonna pay a mechanic to do it.
Man that Pulsar!
I grew up in the back of one almost exactly like that. It was my mom’s main car for a long time, bought almost new in the early 90’s. We were rear-ended by a Mack truck once while I was still in a carseat, but slow enough that everyone was alright. Brought home xmas trees in it with the hatch removed (no sportbak unfortunately). It got sold eventually as it didn’t fit our life anymore.
Eight years later we saw another red one for sale on the side of the highway. Just out of curiosity we checked it out one day and it was the same one! It had been broken into a few times under our ownership and there was still the same dent in the driver’s t-top above the door from a prybar. Bought it and drove it another couple of years before the engine went (I can’t believe it didn’t rust out first). Looking back I miss that car very much.
Ironically the other car I grew up in was a Camaro, a gen2, also with t-tops. I just thought all cars leaked a little. I still get a bit anxious when I go through the car wash, getting ready to catch all the drips.
This is a TOUGH one. I’ve driven that 4th generation Camaro. That V8 with a 6 speed is a lot of laughs. Plus T-tops, for 5 geez? Thats a lot of fun for the money. Im just be getting old because I voted for the Pulsar. Is there a better car to scream 80s Japanese? Maybe, but itd be close. When was the last time you saw one of these? In good shape no less? Im on the East coast so the answer is never. The rare factor, the 80s ness of it got my vote. But I might regret it once I tried winding out the 92 horse four.
Living in the PNW, the rains of Seattle aren’t usually very challenging. I saw 26 inches of rain in one day and 52″ over five days, in SE Texas during Hurricane Harvey back in 2017. By comparison, Seattle’s average rainfall is ~37 inches. SE TX’s annual average is a touch over 60 inches.
There’s not even a kernel of truth in the Seattle rainfall myth. It spits a lot of days but doesn’t add up to much.
I loved the way the Pulsar looked with the Sportbak. I got a kick out of the thought if a grandma owning/driving an LT-1 Camaro with a stick. I’ll bet she was/is a character!
I learned how to do e-brake slides and J-turns in a 1st gen Pulsar. This has to be the one for me!