Open-Top motoring....

[ChrisRobin]

I did my apprenticeship on them in a BL garage were we did Rover, Land Rover, Austin & Triumph and of course the BL models including the Sherpa vans, at the time I preferred the rubber bumper models but as I got on in age I came to like the chrome bumpers they were really hefty you know solid nothing like the thin chrome you get now and even plastic chrome, easy to work on as well.
Hoods caused a bit of an issue with some folk as the press studs would break nails as you tired to fasten the roof back on the original roofs were really quite tight to get on. Midgets were quite interesting for a little car as they had quite a long tunnel for your legs and at 6 foot I fitted in them not to badly although a complete pig to get out of and generally meant you ended up on the floor as you wiggled out of it, not an ideal exit of a vehicle.
The TR7 amazed us when it arrived as it was such a radical shape with pop up lights it was mainly European and American cars had those, and here we had this little TR7 with its sleek wedge shape, and were are the headlamps? OH WOW! When you look at the TR6 compared to the 7 you can see how radical that shape was, people of the time either loved it or hated it with a vengeance.
These days your roof is off in less than 20 seconds at the press of a button the car does EVERYTHING else for you, never understand people with modern convertibles which I pass often in the summer sun roof still firmly affixed, I hear my self shouting to myself "get it off" as I pass.

[bobins]

A couple of soft tops that went nowhere.

Prototype softops - own work