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Very impressive and unique, Xdriver. Are you able to provide more detail on what was involved, who did it, how much? Any pics with the top up?
Hello together
Sorry in advance if the translation has errors, since I speak German and üper Deepl.com translate let
@RudyF6 I understand your point, but fortunately not everything in life has to make sense. This was just about me always wanting an X-Type like this.
@Squito The rebuild was done in Serbia, at Auto servis Stankovic in Leskovac. First, of course, all the rust was removed. Then reinforcements were welded in, the rear doors were closed and the transitions were closed. Also the front window surround was reinforced. The rear seat and all rear panels were rebuilt and everything was newly covered with leather.
Unfortunately, it does not have a soft top. With a soft top, the problem was with necessary differently shaped seals, the transition from the front side windows to the rear side windows, etc. Therefore, the first plan was to make a hardtop out of the roof, where the rear side windows would be fixed to the roof with the upper part of the B-pillar. This failed mainly due to weight reasons. A replica made of plastic didn't work out (yet?).
Basically, I'm still dreaming that someone could still convert it so ready that he would have a fabric top (eg with adapted parts of another convertible) ... is unfortunately also a question of cost.... but one can dream yes.... for clever ideas I am always open...
The registration and cost / benefit for me not really
XDriver,
Thank you for the information.
I'm with you.... do what you enjoy.
I was wondering how you managed to obtain such clean lines. Not having a soft top explains it.
One concern I would have and which would pose a problem in the USA is the lack of roll over protection for the rear seat occupants. In that regard, did you consider a Targa type of installation, where you retain the B pillar? You would then have a removable Targa top for the front seat area (similar to Porsche 911 Targa) and then have a shortened convertible soft top for the rear passengers? Agree, it may not look as streamlined as yours, but it could turn the car into an all weather vehicle. The following link illustrates two similar styles in the USA, the AMC Concord Sundancer and the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Convertible. https://www.hotcars.com/10-american-...cord-sundancer
Enjoy your X-Type!
I am sorry that the ideas thus far have not worked out regarding adding some kind of top to the convertible. One of the many reason I left Germany and went to Australia instead was the weather - thus not having a roof-option on that X-Type in Germany is not ideal.
You tried to answer it already, I think, but the reply was lost in translation somehow:
What's the story about the registration now? Will/did it pass, i.e. did the German Tüv approve the Einzelabnahme?
I, too, see a bit of the problem due to the lack of a roll-over-protection and would recommend (like Squito) a roll-bar where the B-Pillar was before. If you find a nice chrome roll-bar it can even look good. And starting from there ideas for a top might evolve.
To maintain the "cool-factor" I could envision a hard-top with round rear side windows like the bull-eyes (Kluesen, as they call it in Hamburg) on a big ship, copying the hard-top design idea of a Ford Thunderbird: https://files.cults3d.com/uploaders/...a1a411f645.jpg
No doubt it would be a bespoke design - the idea would be e.g. to fix this hardtop to the X-type convertible thru vertical holes in the roll bar...
And no doubt that you do have a garage for the car (given that it does not have a roof). I would design a pulley-system in the garage for easy removal and re-attachment of the hard top so that the weight of the hard-top becomes less of an issue...
Since paying for a one off form to do injection-moulding (with plastic) is not an option (-> WAY too expensive), the obvious choice of material is glass-fibre. I would go for a white top coat of the hard top with the round rear windows. Man, that would look bespoke!
And I am currently putting a newly "decorated" headliner into my X-type - there is nice faux-suede with foam-backing available on the market for that purpose. I attached it with spray adhesive, which is rated up to 120°C. That would be great for the inside of the hardtop.
A Targa version was never an option for me personally. My coach builder had also asked me if I wanted to do a frame with a canvas top as an alternative, where the top could be attached to the body with snaps. But I wanted (or still want) a car like Jaguar would have made as an alternative to the BMW 3-Series, Audi A4/5 or Mecedes C-Class 2002 to 2008 convertibles.
Maybe someone will be found who can convert my car sometime noh ready. Maybe like this Rover 75 in England, which was rebuilt with parts from a Mercedes convertible:
(even if he had problems with closing this time...)
The car is really just for looking at the moment. In Switzerland, a normal matriculation after such a conversion is practically impossible. When the conversion started, I was still a minority owner of a garage and would have been able/allowed to drive the car with the dealer plates - now I unfortunately lack this possibility...
So you are in Switzerland?
Your translator picked a wrong word: "matriculation" is something at universities. You probably mean "Tüv Einzelabnahme", which would be an "Engineers Certificate" in Australia, i.e. an specially endorsed engineer would have to certify that the car is roadworthy. Thus "certificate of road worthiness" is another word for it.
I would not consider the Rover option in your clip above. It would cost a fortune, it would still play up (as you can see), and you still would not have a proper roof, but just a "Strickmütze" as my wife would call it - a "knitted hat"... And last but not least you would have lost basically all the space in your boot.
Over night I came up with another idea - a concept-idea for a hard-top. Something I have never seen before: A hardtop made entirely out of Plexiglas (Perspex). A bent roof section attached to bent side sections. Plus the roll bar, of course. A lot of research into what you can do with Plexiglas exactly would be required: Not too thin, not too thick, how can you bend it (heatgun(s), heated chamber?). Note that you cannot apply tinting foil to Plexiglas. You would have to look for smoked Plexiglas, while also having in mind the limits of Switzerland regarding VLT (visial light transmission): How much light transmission needs there to be? 20%VLT?
Another idea would be a combination of roll bar, glassfibre and Plexiglas...
For the Plexiglas option you would first need to make a buck, then uniformly heat the acrylic to then apply it to the buck.
That would take a pretty big oven.....however a powder coat oven might do the trick for size and access.
You would definitely need to see if you can adjust the oven heat down as Plexiglas typically has a forming temperature of around 150-160C and powder coat ovens operate around 350-400C.
A "buck" is some kind of jig, I assume - yes, I was thinking of something like that.
So I think, it is feasible, but if it is financially feasible needs to be investigated.
Plexiglas (=Perspex or acrylic) can definitely be bent/shaped under the influence of heat.
There are youtube videos about that, including blow moulding an acrylic dome (for those, who want to build another DIY sub...)
I was thinking again about this convertible...
I am still sure that any attempt to make it road-worthy would include adding a roll-bar to the where the B-Pillar was.
But before you spend any more money - I see another issue regarding getting it roadworthy...:
So this convertible has the OE (original) front seats? You no longer have rear doors! That's one of the first things I was thinking about, but then I was thinking that maybe if you have very sporty rear passengers, they could jump in as long as you do not have a roof - or you could lift children in and out. BUT...! As it is, it is a 5 seater - with or without roof there is no proper EXIT for the rear passenger. This alone would probably fail every attempt to make it roadworthy: No Exit for rear passengers in case of an accident, no way to open the rear doors from the outside to rescue the rear passengers... Thus, without front seats, which you can quickly fold forward to allow access to the rear, without rear doors, and with seats in the rear rather than a super large luggage compartment extension without seats I can't see how this could become roadworthy, even with roll bar... Sadly...
Unfortunately I was occupied professionally for a few days.
The permit for participation in public road traffic is not so important for me for now. In the worst case it remains simply with a "show car".
@MiamiTVR: cool pickup - you practically don't see anything like that in our country. I know the Jaguar convertible . the company is called Newport Convertible Engineering.
@Peter_of_Australia: We had in mind to make the front seats foldable like in a two-door car. That hasn't worked out (yet). But it should still be possible. Maybe with other seat frames, like from the Jaguar XK Coupe/Convertible.
I don't see a roll bar as compelling. After all, comparable models from back then, such as the BMW 3-Series, Audi A4 or Mercedes C-Class don't have one either. And we also reinforced the A-pillars and the windshield frame. I imagine the following as a realistic solution for implementing a roof/hardtop, as in this example:
06-18-2023, 12:47 PM
X-Type Convertible
