Everflex is a British fabric used as a roof covering on cars, and is a type of vinyl roof. Everflex was used on both hardtops and convertibles.
Its usage was popular from the 1960s to the 1980s [1] on luxury cars. [2] Though its popularity has greatly decreased for new vehicles, it is still manufactured as a material used to restore vehicles. The material is similar to the vinyl used on most vehicles, but is more durable [3] and more expensive. On hardtop vehicles, fabric is placed below the Everflex material to add weight and body, often making the car look more like a genuine convertible. On older vehicles, a fabric called "Union Cloth" was used, but it quickly deteriorated, trapping water and damaging the Everflex material and roof. The Everflex is then glued down and can be screwed in around doors and windows. Notable car companies that use Everflex material are Rolls-Royce, Austin-Healey, [4] Morgan Motor Company [5] and Jaguar Cars. The feature was most popular on the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow in the early 1970s. Apart from its usage in the automotive industry, companies such as B. F. Goodrich marketed Everflex as a stronger alternative to rubber. [6] Additionally, another unrelated wet suit material by the name of Everflex gained popularity in the early 2000s. [7] [8]
A convertible or cabriolet is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary across eras and manufacturers.
Personal luxury car is a North American car classification describing somewhat sporty, sophisticated mass-market coupés that emphasized comfort over performance. The North American manufacturers most often combined engineering, design, and marketing to develop upscale, distinctive "platform sharing" models that became highly profitable.
The Chevrolet Chevelle is a mid-sized automobile that was produced by Chevrolet in three generations for the 1964 through 1977 model years. Part of the General Motors (GM) A-body platform, the Chevelle was one of Chevrolet's most successful nameplates. Body styles included coupes, sedans, convertibles, and station wagons. The "Super Sport" versions were produced through the 1973 model year and Lagunas from 1973 through to 1976.
Coupé de ville is a car body style produced from 1908 to 1939. It has an external or open-topped driver's position, as well as an enclosed compartment for passengers. Although the different terms may have once had specific meanings for certain car manufacturers or countries, the terms are often used interchangeably.
The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced between 1939 and 2020 by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The model line was introduced following the construction of a personal vehicle for Edsel Ford, who commissioned a coachbuilt 1939 Lincoln-Zephyr convertible, developed as a vacation vehicle to attract potential Lincoln buyers. In what would give the model line its name, the exterior was given European "continental" styling elements, including a rear-mounted spare tire.
There are many types of car body styles. They vary depending on intended use, market position, location, and the era they were made.
The Austin-Healey 3000 is a British sports car built from 1959 until 1967. It is the best known of the "big Healey" models. The car's bodywork was made by Jensen Motors and the vehicles were assembled at BMC's MG Works in Abingdon, alongside the corporation's MG models.
The Landau began as a carriage design with a folding fabric top consisting of two sections supported by external elliptic springs. This landau roof design was adopted in early automobiles as a convertible top. The term, however, came to mean a simulated convertible. A landau bar is an ornamental feature located on a car's c-pillar derived from the roof form, primarily used on hearses.
Vinyl roof refers to a vinyl covering for an automobile's top.
The Ambassador is an automobile manufactured and marketed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1957 through 1974 over eight generations, available in two- and four-door sedan, two-door hardtop, four-door station wagon as well as two-door convertible body styles. It was classified as a full-size car from 1957 through 1961, mid-size from 1962 until 1966, and again full-size from 1967 through 1974 model years.
A hardtop is a rigid form of automobile roof, typically metal, and integral to the vehicle's design, strength, and style. The term typically applies to a pillarless hardtop, a car body style without a B-pillar. The term "pillared hardtop" was used in the 1970s to refer to cars that had a B-pillar but had frameless door glass like a pillarless hardtop.
The Nash Metropolitan is an American automobile assembled in England and marketed from 1953 until 1962.
The Austin A90 Atlantic is a British car produced by the Austin Motor Company from 1949 until 1952. It was launched initially as a four-seat convertible, making its début at the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show in London, with production models built between early 1949 and late 1950. A two-door coupé, marketed as the A90 Atlantic sports saloon, followed a year later. It had been previewed at the 1949 Motor Show and was in production at Longbridge between 1950 and 1952.
A phaeton is a style of open automobile without any fixed weather protection, which was popular from the 1900s until the 1930s. It is an automotive equivalent of the horse-drawn fast, lightweight phaeton carriage.
A retractable hardtop — also known as "coupé convertible" or "coupé cabriolet" — is a car with an automatically operated, self-storing hardtop, as opposed to the folding textile-based roof used by traditional convertible cars.
The Rolls-Royce Corniche is a two-door, front-engine, rear wheel drive luxury car produced by Rolls-Royce Motors as a hardtop coupé and as a convertible.
The Nash Rambler is a North American automobile that was produced by the Nash Motors division of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation from 1950 until 1954 in sedan, wagon, and fixed-profile convertible body styles.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is a British luxury automobile maker that has operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW AG since 2003 – as the exclusive manufacturer of Rolls-Royce-branded motor cars. The company's administrative and production headquarters are located on the 42-acre (17 ha) Goodwood Estate in Goodwood, West Sussex, England, United Kingdom.
The Rolls-Royce Ghost is a full-sized luxury car manufactured by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. The "Ghost" nameplate, named in honour of the Silver Ghost, a car first produced in 1906, was announced in April 2009 at the Auto Shanghai show. The production model was officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. The Ghost Extended Wheelbase was introduced in 2011. During development, the Ghost was known as the "RR04". It was designed as a smaller, "more measured, more realistic car" than the Phantom, aiming for a lower price category for Rolls-Royce models.
The Rolls-Royce Wraith is a full-size ultra-luxury car/grand tourer manufactured by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and based on the chassis of the Rolls-Royce Ghost sedan which is also shared with the Rolls-Royce Dawn convertible. The Wraith shares its nameplate with the 1938 model by the original Rolls-Royce company.