Door tops
I've noticed that roadsters from England (as we called it back then) typically have doors with a top that is lower than the rest of the body, as
if to allow the elbow to be "outside" the car's body. The first example I saw of this was the Triumph TR3.
US roadsters (e.g., the infamous '32 Ford) typically have door tops that continue the body line from the hood (bonnet) to the trunk (boot).
Is there any reason for that? My hunch is that it's due to the narrower cars not having enough "elbow room" (an example of form
following function), but I've also considered that there may be a historic reason having to do with body styles.
AACA has two pages (http://www.aaca.org/junior/autoknow/ak_bstyles.htm and http://www.aaca.org/junior/autoknow/ak_bstyles2.htm) of definitions -
roadster, convertible, touring, etc. - but I wonder if the British equivalent organization has different definitions.
Anybody here know their car history and terminology as it relates to door tops?
M D "Doc" Nugent
http://www.carcentric.com
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