Re: 1955 Caribbean top material
Posted by Leeedy On 2021/2/2 11:56:28
Quote:
No. If you click on the link and go to "1955 Packard (which they call some name–"Club Coupe"– other than Caribbean, but show a Caribbean) there is no vinyl top shown. And no colored inside. This doesn't mean they don't make good tops... but what is shown is NOT authentic at all. Just a top. This is not up for debate.
The top this site shows on a 1955 Caribbean is very clearly tan canvas. The site actually says so. And THIS is the site's recommendation... Haartz Stayfast canvas. The web site states that it is "tan/tan Haartz Stayfast." That's NOT vinyl and it is not the right color. And "tan/tan" in the trim business means "tan on the outside and tan on the inside." 1955 Caribbean convertible tops were never, ever tan. Didn't happen.
It may look nice (especially if one does not know any better), but it certainly does not look authentic and is definitely not like the original. White vinyl in diamond pinpoint grain LOOKS a whole lot closer in appearance to the original tops. And like I said, the top shown is missing the stainless trim on the rear bow. People make these things without ever studying an original...and then claim they are accurate. It hasn't been that many years, but this is how far the history and memories have strayed between 1955 and 2021.
And Haartz Stayfast, I can assure you (having once been in this business myself for many years owning a shop that replaced thousands of tops in Southern California) this material is canvas. Not vinyl. Used it many, many, many times and still have the full sample books I got from the company back in the 1970s and 1980s when Steve Giaquinta was their corporate OEM representative.
I even have photos of us standing together at the cycle test of Mazda Miata's folding top with tempered glass window (something I also introduced–credited or not). I also went to dinner many years annually in Las Vegas with my good friend Mr. Nat Danas who was publisher of Auto Trim News. I knew Mr. Danas for many years and he literally wrote the book (and I still have mine) on the automotive convertible top trim business. I can assure you, I know this business and I don't make statements without knowing my stuff.
Any good automotive trim shop can make A convertible top for you. But that does not mean the top is authentic. Nor does it mean said top looks like the original. And if you go this far in a restoration, what's the point if these things don't matter?
FINALLY... if you want to see a REAL original... unmolested 1955 Caribbean convertible top, hustle yourself over to the National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio. Take a good look at the very low-miles Jean Peters/Howard Hughes Caribbean which now resides there.
IF the museum is smart and keeps the top raised UP rather than leaving it squished down (like any common display you can see anywhere in the world), you can see a REAL ORIGINAL 1955 Caribbean convertible top. With correct original fabric outside and color INSIDE in all of its original glory. IF you look close and the museum allows, you can also see how on 1955 Caribbeans, the color of the inner top face extended down into the top well (this was changed for 1956).
I first drove and photographed this car in the 1970s in Beverly Hills–when it had less than 1,000 miles on the odometer. And I have original poster-sized color proofs from when the car was photographed back then for Motor Trend magazine. You can read the original history I wrote on the car in the 1970s in The Packard Cormorant magazine, published by The Packard Club (www.PackardClub.org).
Attach file:
HughesCaribbeanWM.jpg (24.63 KB)
point wrote:
u are correct, it takes a stainless strip
i believe Merritt has those strips ,i wouldnt put the top on without the stainless strip,looks cheap without it, u can dye the inside, me and a guy did one comes out nice ,the company made the dye ,mixed it the color wanted , and like i stated good place buy the top is from
aro2000.com they show one on there site in vinyl looks good i have installed many conv tops in my day believe me
No. If you click on the link and go to "1955 Packard (which they call some name–"Club Coupe"– other than Caribbean, but show a Caribbean) there is no vinyl top shown. And no colored inside. This doesn't mean they don't make good tops... but what is shown is NOT authentic at all. Just a top. This is not up for debate.
The top this site shows on a 1955 Caribbean is very clearly tan canvas. The site actually says so. And THIS is the site's recommendation... Haartz Stayfast canvas. The web site states that it is "tan/tan Haartz Stayfast." That's NOT vinyl and it is not the right color. And "tan/tan" in the trim business means "tan on the outside and tan on the inside." 1955 Caribbean convertible tops were never, ever tan. Didn't happen.
It may look nice (especially if one does not know any better), but it certainly does not look authentic and is definitely not like the original. White vinyl in diamond pinpoint grain LOOKS a whole lot closer in appearance to the original tops. And like I said, the top shown is missing the stainless trim on the rear bow. People make these things without ever studying an original...and then claim they are accurate. It hasn't been that many years, but this is how far the history and memories have strayed between 1955 and 2021.
And Haartz Stayfast, I can assure you (having once been in this business myself for many years owning a shop that replaced thousands of tops in Southern California) this material is canvas. Not vinyl. Used it many, many, many times and still have the full sample books I got from the company back in the 1970s and 1980s when Steve Giaquinta was their corporate OEM representative.
I even have photos of us standing together at the cycle test of Mazda Miata's folding top with tempered glass window (something I also introduced–credited or not). I also went to dinner many years annually in Las Vegas with my good friend Mr. Nat Danas who was publisher of Auto Trim News. I knew Mr. Danas for many years and he literally wrote the book (and I still have mine) on the automotive convertible top trim business. I can assure you, I know this business and I don't make statements without knowing my stuff.
Any good automotive trim shop can make A convertible top for you. But that does not mean the top is authentic. Nor does it mean said top looks like the original. And if you go this far in a restoration, what's the point if these things don't matter?
FINALLY... if you want to see a REAL original... unmolested 1955 Caribbean convertible top, hustle yourself over to the National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio. Take a good look at the very low-miles Jean Peters/Howard Hughes Caribbean which now resides there.
IF the museum is smart and keeps the top raised UP rather than leaving it squished down (like any common display you can see anywhere in the world), you can see a REAL ORIGINAL 1955 Caribbean convertible top. With correct original fabric outside and color INSIDE in all of its original glory. IF you look close and the museum allows, you can also see how on 1955 Caribbeans, the color of the inner top face extended down into the top well (this was changed for 1956).
I first drove and photographed this car in the 1970s in Beverly Hills–when it had less than 1,000 miles on the odometer. And I have original poster-sized color proofs from when the car was photographed back then for Motor Trend magazine. You can read the original history I wrote on the car in the 1970s in The Packard Cormorant magazine, published by The Packard Club (www.PackardClub.org).
Attach file:
HughesCaribbeanWM.jpg (24.63 KB)This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=229988