Vinyl Roof - Styles

Styles

Four styles of vinyl roof evolved during the 1960s and 1970s, with a couple of variants:

• FULL - this is the most commonly seen style, in which the vinyl simply covers the whole top of the car, including the C pillars. The windshield pillars may or may not be covered. If a center sedan pillar exists, it is usually not covered, but exceptions to this rule were made. This is the type that was almost always used on four-door models.

• HALO - this type is similar to the above, but the vinyl stops just short of the tops of the side windows and windshield, allowing a "halo" of painted sheet metal to appear between the vinyl and the glass area.

• CANOPY - in this style, the vinyl covering is applied only to the front half or two thirds of the roof, usually ending at the trailing edge of the rear side windows. The windshield pillars are very commonly covered in this style, but the C pillars never are.

• LANDAU - this is almost the opposite of the canopy, as the vinyl covers the rear quarter or third of the roof, including the C pillars, coming as far forward as the trailing edge of either the rear or front side window. In common parlance, this was often called the "half roof," although logically that term could apply to the canopy as well.