Guest Tom Timmins Posted July 12, 2001 Share Posted July 12, 2001 I have seen ads for late teen touring cars which said the car had a "California" top. What exactly does this mean?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronbarn Posted July 12, 2001 Share Posted July 12, 2001 The California top was essentially a hard-top touring design, i.e. a four door touring car with a top that could not be folded for that full open car feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Graham Clayton Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Beginning about 1916, open touring cars could be fitted with rigid tops, open or with removable windows on the sides, for use in cooler seasons. Different makers had their own names for this feature, but because the concept was popularized by the coachbuilding firm Walter Murphy Company in Pasadena, CA, theirs and others came to be known as California Tops. Makers of these accessories pitched the idea that the California Top could be used in the cooler months of the year, while it could be replaced by a traditional folding soft-top in the warmer months. Some car makers offered these as an option with their touring cars. Many aftermarket producers of California Tops finished them with coated-fabric roofcovers for enhanced styling, typically using artificial leather for the covering. Given some of the styling trends of the time, artificial leather styles with a Spanish Print effect were popular in this application. https://www.haartz.com/en/consumer_info/glossary/glossary.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest richentee Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Attached is the photo of our 1917 Franklin 4 Passenger Roadster. It came from the factory with a folding top which was replaced with the California top in the mid-20s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Mellor NJ Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 There's a guy near me, George Matteo who has a 24 Studebaker with a carson top. He says it's the only top it ever had and it's factory equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 If you are not familiar with early cars (before 1920) the open touring was the most popular body. Sedans were very expensive and seldom seen.Tops came in 2 forms. You could get a folding top which most people seldom or never folded down. Or you could get a fixed top, which looked the same but did not fold. This made the car a little cheaper.The California top started as a replacement for the stock top. It had more looks and style, and was never meant to fold down. Some manufacturers offered them as an option on new cars in the early 20s. This was about when the sedan became popular so the California top was a short lived fad, starting around 1916 and most popular from 1920 - 24. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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