t-top

{{Short description|Automobile roof with removable panels}}

{{About|the automotive T-Top|the boat|T-top (boat)}}

{{confused|Targa top}}

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File:Chevrolet Corvette C3 01.jpg

A T-top (UK: T-bar) is an automobile roof with a removable panel on each side of a rigid bar running from the center of one structural bar between pillars to the center of the next structural bar. The panels of a traditional T-top are usually made of auto grade safety glass (tempered or laminated), or acrylic – but they can also be black or body-colored and made of other (often light-weight) materials.

The removable panel roof was patented by Gordon Buehrig on June 5, 1951.{{Cite web|url=http://www.google.com.na/patents/US2556062|title=Vehicle top construction}} It was first used in a 1948 prototype by The American Sportscar Company or “Tasco.”{{cite web|url=http://www.coachbuilt.com/des/b/buehrig/buehrig.htm |title=Gordon Buehrig 1904–1990 |publisher=Coachbuilt |access-date=2011-11-20}}

The 1968 Chevrolet Corvette coupe was the first U.S.-built production automobile to feature a T-top roof.[http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclecars/chevrolet-corvette/chevrolet-corvette-history-3.shtml Muscle Car Club: Chevrolet Corvette - History, Third Generation, 1968–1982] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218142210/http://musclecarclub.com/musclecars/chevrolet-corvette/chevrolet-corvette-history-3.shtml |date=2007-12-18 }}. This increased the popularity of the coupe, such that it outsold the convertible and later led to the discontinuation of the Corvette convertible after 1975 until it was revived in 1986.{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}} Post-C3 models were built with a targa top instead of a T-top.

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