"Convertible" vs "Drop Head Coupe"

[tahoe healey]

Why is the Healey convertible not referred to as a drop head coup as other British marques?

 

[Editor_Reid]

Maybe because the soft top has no headliner?

 

[Legal Bill]

Maybe because the soft top has no headliner?

Yes.

 

[Michael Oritt]

Maybe because the soft top has no headliner?

I agree with Reid. A friend of mine owned a Jaguar XK140 DHC and it had a convertible top with an inner liner.
And what the Brits called a DHC was a Cabriolet on 50's-60's era Porsches and MB's: again, a fold-down convertible with an interior lining..

 

[BoyRacer]

I don't know if this is the actual truth, but I was told (a long time ago) that the difference between a roadster and a drop head coupe was how the windshield was attached. A roadster had removable windshield stantions and the coupe had permanent, or fixed, stantions.

 

[Guido36]

As I understand it, a roadster has side curtains whereas a convertible (American) or convertable (British) is interchangeable with Cabriolet or Drophead coupe and has wind up windows. I have not heard the headliner theory before.

 

[Editor_Reid]

Maybe because the soft top has no headliner?

For example, a Jaguar XK120 came in both roadster (or "OTS" - Open Two-Seater) and drophead coupe forms. They were different models, not interchangeable names. From Wikipedia:

The XK120 was ultimately available in three body styles, all two-seaters and available either as Left (LHD) or Right Hand Drive (RHD): an open 2-seater described in the US market as a roadster (OTS); a fixed head coupé (FHC) from 1951; and a drophead coupé (DHC) from 1953.

Also from Wikipedia:

The open two-seater provided little weather protection. Its lightweight folding canvas top and detachable sidescreens stowed out of sight behind the seats.

The drophead coupé (DHC) had a padded, lined canvas top, which folded onto the rear deck behind the seats when retracted, and roll-up windows with opening quarter lights.

The terms are apparently not precise, and depend to a large degree on what the manufacturer decides to call them.

I've always keyed on the "lightweight canvas top" versus the "padded, lined canvas top" - so, more or less, a drophead coupe has a headliner - but from those definitions it appears that calling a BJ7/BJ8 a drophead coupe - because of their roll-up windows - would be valid ... except that the factory called them convertibles.

 

[John Turney]

My understanding of the difference between a roadster and convertible is that the roadster top is removed to put it down and the convertible top stays attached.

 

[Michael Oritt]

Tahoe Healey's original question asked "Why is the Healey convertible not referred to as a drop head coup as other British marques?"

The answer is in the last line of these lyrics: > Odetta - Whyn Why Lyrics | SongMeanings <

Best--Michael Oritt