1959 soft top

[Rick Hendel]

I'm looking to purchase a 1959 with a hard top only. The owner says it was ordered as soft top deleate. Was that an option in 1959. My second question is how hard had and how expensive is it to ad a soft top.

Thanks

[John M.]

Re: 1959 soft top

Rick,
The car was available with a soft top, a hard top, or both tops as an option.
I fully operational soft top with all the necessary brackets will probably be in the area of $3000-$3500. There were some subtle differences in the body of a car that was not intended to have a soft top. There were some nut plates that were not installed before the outer quarter panel skins were bonded on, and you will need to install something to attach the outer leg of the upper bracket to.
This is something that can be done fairly easily, it just requires a little creative thinking. If you decide to do it in the future, drop me a line and I will share with you a process to add these attach points without making them appear like they were added on.

Regards, John McGraw

[Ed Jennings]

Re: 1959 soft top

Your original deck lid without the cut outs for the soft top latches is a valuable commodity. Rather than cut it up, find one with the cut outs already present. They are not too expensive, and should you elect to part with the solid deck it will go a ways toward financing the soft top and brackets.