Junkyard Contemp(t)lation: Why We Can’t Have Nice Things – Exhibit #25038

Once upon a time there were vinyl tops.  And some of them fit nicely, were snug to the metal below, and served to accentuate the shape and form they were hugging.  Something like a 1968 Dodge Charger for example looks pretty good that way, I certainly wouldn’t refuse one although the bare version looks good to me as well.

Then there are the padded tops that often look ridiculous.  But even with those I sort of understand the underlying thought process of “Let’s do this and it’ll rust even quicker by absorbing water in the padding and the buyer will come back for another of our quality cars sooner!”  Or maybe just because someone thought some other people might think it looks more luxurious or spendier or it was cheaper than paying union labor to smooth out a roof seam.  A 1982 Lincoln Town Car (or most any ’70s/’80s Lincoln) is a good example of many possibilities here.

Then there are cloth tops of both the padded and unpadded variety which would seem to serve as a faux-convertible top.  A little (or a lot) cheesy, but not often seen at the manufacturer level, most often either dealer-installed pre-sale or aftermarket.  More convincing (maybe) on a two-door, but somehow often seen on a four-door as well, even with a sunroof. 

The Fox-body Ford Mustang was itself once available from the factory with a vinyl top.  It was snug-fitting, generally seen in a contrasting color, and presumably either was meant to provide a color contrast or in fact sort of evoke the convertible look before there was a Fox-body Mustang convertible.  Paul captured this early example.

Then eventually there actually was a factory convertible starting with the 1983 model year (Jim Grey’s picture above is of a later car but of the same era as our feature car), I believe that is the same time that the vinyl top option went away.  Note that on a Ford Mustang as on most cars with the option, the convertible looked pretty much just like the notchback solid-topped version.  And the vinyl top was only available on the notchback as well.

However that wasn’t good enough for our poor car here.  A 1989 Ford Mustang, good enough, even if only equipped with the relatively asthmatic 4-cylinder; still a Mustang.  While a black top on a very dark colored car would seem to carry a lot of “what’s the point, really”, to each their own I suppose.  And in this case they even carried the cloth down the A-pillars.  A touch unorthodox but alright, perhaps a good thing the color blends after all…

However now you’re starting to see the issue…this isn’t a notchback car.  It’s a hatchback.  So where does the cloth top break to the paint?  The top covers the roof and crawls down the C-pillar.  Crucially and logically it is also covering the top of the hatch around the window.  But how are they going to end it down below?

Argh! My eyes!  The humanity!  They didn’t end it!  They covered the ENTIRE hatch!  And then had the gall to put the spoiler back on!  And it even has the little snap button thingies at the base of the C-pillar as well to try to make it look like it’s somehow a manually attached soft top!

The enduring question here though has to be: What did they do with the spoiler?  Was it covered as well?  Or left body color?  We will never know (although the fact that someone took it gives a strong hint) and this, this abomination is just one more reason among many why we can’t have the nice things that we desire, we as a species just simply don’t deserve them.

 

Related Reading:

The History Of The Vinyl Roof Part 1 by Tom Halter

The History Of The Vinyl Roof Part 2 by Tom Halter

The History Of The Vinyl Roof Part 3 by Tom Halter

CC Capsule: 1987-1989 Ford Mustang Convertible by Jim Grey

Curbside Classic: 1979 Ford Mustang by PN