Bimini top ideas?

That's really ungainly. Pass.

It looks like it'd blow off over 30 mph.

I've always wondered what it would look like if a guy could take the rough, utilitarian practicality of a Spyder and marry it with the sleek and sexy good looks of a Model T rag-top.

Now we know.

how about a paper bag with eye/mouth holes cut out..i had a boat with a top like that called it a Bimini topi

were the original cars ever driven with the top up, or was it just for show to follow production race rules?

I don't know about those clamps, Ed, you're going to have to come up with something better than that...

And @Stan Galat- thanks for the laugh of the day!

Rag top roof
As a performance race car, the 550 spyder was usually seen with an aluminium tonneau covering the passenger side of the cockpit which offered better aerodynamics while on the track.
The customer builds came with a rag top roof which was included, in order for the spyder to be classed as a sports car for sale. Although it was purposely designed for the spyder, the low plexiglass frameless windscreen made it difficult for it to be attached at the front of the screen, so two leather straps connected to the roof were hitched to two loops on the dash and also behind the seats, but still creating a large gap between it and the screen.
Many of the spyders that raced in Portugal, did so with a larger windscreen designed for rallying. This screen was large enough for the roof to connect to and keep the driver dry.

The roof had a clear window at the rear, and the retractable scissor like frame was mounted to the car by one bracket with wing nuts on each side behind the seats and clipped to the body with a number of press studs. The bonnet straps securing the engine bay were designed with a hook on one end to keep the base of the roof in place. When the roof was folded down, the leather straps were hitched to two loops also behind the seats, to stop the roof from flying off at speed.

The original rag top was designed to withstand approx. 60 mph when in an upright position. The rag tops are rarely seen on original spyders, but 550-0090 retains it when displayed at events.

http://type550.com/blueprint/parts/rag-top-roof/

a little research answered my own question

That just looks SO “not right”.

That has to be the stupidest looking convertible top I have ever seen.

Tell us how you really feel, Bob!

I had pondered, from time to time, making a Bimini-style top for Pearl.

Not any longer........

@Gordon Nichols posted:

Tell us how you really feel, Bob!

I had pondered, from time to time, making a Bimini-style top for Pearl.

Not any longer........

Now, a removable bikini top I am okay with...

@Lane Anderson posted:

It looks like it'd blow off over 30 mph.

Plenty of Jeeps use them. But they have a windshield to affix to. Not to mention it looks like ass.

well,  umm....

http://type550.com/history/chassis-number/550-0031/

Yeah, that is actually a wing, not a top. Michael May was ahead of everyone's time.

https://www.classicdriver.com/...yder-a-winged-wonder

Looks like Fibersteel has remade the original top and it looks exactly right.

—in this case, exactly right looking exactly wrong.

Those little hooks that are built into the leather strap hold downs are hard to replicate and even harder to source (ask me how I know).

To my eye, the standard Beck top could be modified to look almost exactly like an original if you shorten the rear hoop and the rear window panel (in)appropriately. Add the leather belts to attach to the four footman's loops on your firewall and dashboard (you DO have those, right?) and you could "use" the top with the low plexi screen as well as the Speedster glass.

Add the zip-out rear window for breezy practicality.

Of course, when you were done, you'd have something that works hardly at all.

@Stan Galat posted:

I've always wondered what it would look like if a guy could take the rough, utilitarian practicality of a Spyder and marry it with the sleek and sexy good looks of a Model T rag-top.

Now we know.

So, you're saying at least there's a chance?

Hahaha. ;-)

So I gather, if there were a good idea it would have already been implemented by now

Buy a hat.

@Panhandle Bob posted:

Buy a hat.

I've seen pictures of some folks that do wear a hat,seems but it seems like it would catch a lot of wind like an umbrella... 😃🙂

That's a hat that has been made into an umbrella.

In my pile of CAD patterns, I have the makings of a Bikini top for my Spyder. It will be able to be taken apart and stowed on board when not in use. It's more in the lines of modern Porsche Spyder top instead of an Easyup.

It's close to the bottom of the pile though.

Looks like Fibersteel has it in motion...

They want their car to look legit to the cognoscenti. The folding top is a real inflection point, where "period correct" meets "WTF is that BS??"

I would feel bad when it blows off and ends up wrapped around the biker in back of you..............

I think that top is the very definition of Rube Goldberg.

This is what comes to mind when I saw that top.

This is kind of the Bimini top idea I had in mind, a nod to the 718

https://www.pcarmarket.com/auc...-550-spyder-replica/

"In case you were wondering what a 550 Spyder with an original factory soft top looks like…"

https://www.instagram.com/p/CR1wIvXD3zj/

The one on #14 up above ain’t half bad.

That one from the Instagram video?    🤢🤢🤮

At first, I thought it looked like a sheet of cardboard from an Amazon box!

With them being a builder, upholsterers, and manufacturer of parts, I would've thought fibersteel would come up with a more refined version

Fibersteel isn't a manufacturer in the normal sense. I have no idea if they actually produce cars, but I don't think so. I do know that they work on Beck, Thunder Ranch and Vintage Spyders.

Fibersteel's "thing" is faithful replicas. They do detail replica stuff: jack points, e-brakes, shift linkage(I just removed one of those), windshields, aluminum interiors, fuel tanks, drum skins, hood straps...

They replicate OE stuff, like the jack that stowed in the passenger side next to the seat.

The top is a replica top, a copy of what Porsche made back then. That's what they do.