I'm a nut about roadsters. And what's a roadster? Automotive style designations are notoriously shifty (witness the witless recent fad for the name "four-door coupe," which is like saying "Nikon EOS"). But if you ask me, I'd say a roadster is any small, two-seater, open-topped car where some degree of sportiness is either implied or achieved.
Like the perfect camera, the perfect roadster doesn't exist. As with the perfect camera, people keep trying.
What follows is a rather extemporaneous list of my favorite-looking roadsters. Not all of them have high performance, or are (or were) popular, or are even the best variant of their model or line. But they all look muy fabuloso. (As with aesthetics in every sphere, disagreement on that score is expected and assumed.)
Because some people don't like car posts on their photo blog, I've continued this after a break. (If you click through, though, you're no longer allowed to complain.)
Starting the list from the bottom:
9. Mid-'60s C2 Corvette: More sports car than true roadster, there has never been a very classic-looking 'Vette. The styling of modern ones isn't half bland; worse were the delightfully hideous 1970s "Makos," which, all points and angles and waspy waists, defined high 1970s American style as thoroughly as a 50-year-old hipster of the era wearing bell-bottoms, gold chains, a huge collar, paisley, and a toupé. (And so, naturally, we couldn't get enough of them, and they lived on for well over a decade.) The first generation was pleasant looking by 1960 or so, but then, it wasn't really a sports car until Zora Arkus-Duntov started his Grand Sport program in about '63. The C2 seen here is the prettiest of the bunch, especially in convertible form. Albeit an "Americanized" one, it feels like a roadster to drive.
8. Austin Healey 3000. This one's a BJ8, which isn't quite a two-seater, although most of the 3000's were. But I liked those badges. You can see more pictures of this car here. I've never driven a 3000, but I have a long story to tell about a fateful one all the same. Another day, another time....
7. Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider. I left this spot until last to fill, and it was a close race between this car, the Porsche 356, and the Mercedes 300SL. But a Porsche nearly killed me when I was 16 (damn engine in the wrong place!), and that's not even the only issue I have with them. And although I have a soft spot for the 300SL and even for Paul Bracq's pagoda-roof SL's, it must be said that Mercedes is a company that deep down doesn't get roadsters, as a spin in any current SL or SLK will demonstrate. How Mercedes manages to make even its small cars feel so heavy is a mystery to me.
And although I grew up in the era of Triumph Spitfires and the ubiquitous Alfa Duetto Spiders (called simply Spiders in the U.S., although in Europe the word as a general term means roughly the same thing as "roadster"), the Giulietta Spider is the pure Alfa to me. My parents took us on many trips to Europe when I was young, at the tail end of the heyday of postwar European travel, and I must have seen many of them then. The Giulietta eventually came to signify everything romantic and sophisticated about Europe to me. I've never even seen one here.
6. Shelby Cobra. In 1961, Carroll Shelby asked Britain's AC cars to provide some engineless chasses for its AC Ace modified to accommodate a Ford small-block V8. Thus the legend of the AC Cobra—better known as the Shelby Cobra—was born. Today you can drop a GM LS3 Corvette engine into a Miata and presumably get a better car, but the result would have nothing near the same panache. I've never driven either.
Because there were only a few hundred of the bonafide originals made, this has been one of the most imitated and replicated cars in history. Some of the kit cars are truly horrible. But once again you can get very close to the real thing—a company called Superformance in South Africa manufactures very high-quality replicas that are even approved by Carroll Shelby himself (although they can't use the magic name "Cobra"). The illustration above is of a Superformance MKIII.
5. 1999–2005 Mazda Miata (the "NB"). Currently the used car steal on planet Earth, an absolute joy to drive on real roads with speed limits, and cheap cheap cheap—you can get a decent driver for $5–8k and it's about as hard to maintain as a Corolla. I just love the styling of these cars. Can't get enough of 'em. Not for nothing has the Miata/MX-5 been the iconic roadster of the past 22 years, outlasting many others and serving as inspiration to the competitors that remain. (Thanks to Phuong Tao for this picture, of his Miataspeed factory turbo. You can see more pics here.)
4. 1965 Ferrari 275 GTS. This is reportedly not a Ferrari of the first water, seen from the driver's seat. Seen from just about any other angle, the car is all business and pure style, one of Pininfarina's most confident and assured designs. What would today be called the 275's "design language" would later be echoed in the off-the-rack Fiat 124. I sorta miss the discipline of mandatory round headlights—designers have been going overboard in the other direction lately. Significantly, the 275 GTS is simple, without the trying-too-hard, over-the-top styleyness (example) that is all too prevalent now. See many more pictures here. (And get a load of that price! Wow.)
3. 1956–1959 BMW 507. Not a great car, and too expensive to be popular in its time (only 252 made, which makes it all the more valuable now, of course), this Albrecht von Goertz masterpiece is nevertheless one of the most perfect designs ever to come out of Germany, which is saying a mouthful. (Goertz later penned the original Datsun 240Z, another high point of automotive style.) Rather amazingly, BMW created its own modernized homage to the 507—the Z8—and it isn't a very good car either (at least according to those who should know), despite coming from one of the world's most capable automakers and costing the proverbial arm and leg. The Z8 looks sweet, too, if a tad pudgy, but just misses the lean, lithe, pantherlike elegance of the perfectly-proportioned original.
Many more pics here, which might collectively give a better overall idea of what the car looks like.
(And, in roadster news, BMW is said to be preparing a new small roadster for market, the Z2, seeing as the Z4 has gone so far upscale.)
2. Pre-War MG TA Midget. Henry Ford wasn't the only one with a model called the "T"—that's what the TA was called before the nearly-identical TB came along. Some people prefer the raked radiator and fender-integrated headlights of the TF, and I used to, too. But now I go along with the crowd and prefer the more upright, slab-sided classic TA/TB/TC series produced before and after WWII. When production resumed after the war with the TC of 1945–1950, this was the car that introduced a generation, and a nation, to roadsters. (Note not only the detached headlamps but the absence of a front bumper on the car in this picture.)
I was imprinted on MGs as a child, which explains a lot. ("Look, an unrestored chrome-bumper MGB! Mama!"*)
1. Jaguar E-Type. Enzo Ferrari himself considered the E-Type, celebrating its 50th birthday this year, to be the best-looking automobile ever made. The E-Type tops many lists of the all-time best-looking cars. This was the car that haunted my dreams as a boy. I'm over it now, but you never forget your first love.
And who knows, maybe now that I can afford it, maybe I might even buy one
And finally...
Beyond Category: 1928 Bugatti 37A. The truest icon is the Type 35, one of the most beautiful machines ever created by Man, but I've chosen the 37A for this list for two reasons: first, because it has the four-cylinder engine that the roadgoing versions had, rather than the eight cylinders of most of the racecars (although, as Jay says, this one raced); and second, because it's the subject of this awesome video. (It's a bit long; start it at about 9:00 if you're pressed for time.) Jay Leno became one of my heroes when I saw this. I've been reading Bugatti lore since I was, like, ten—the one in the millionaire's living room as a sculpture, stripped of its body panels; the mythical Bugatti train; all the race victories; the craftsmanship; the engineering; le pur sang; Ettore's eccentricities; on and on—and almost nobody ever talks about driving them. To see Jay tooling along the highway in L.A. in his Type 37A at the end of this video is just one of the greatest things I've ever laid eyes on in my life.
Maybe I exaggerate.
But only a little. The true spirit of the roadster, neatly, in five and a half minutes of video.
Mike
*I'm trusting you're up on your Konrad Lorenz.
"Open Mike" is a series of off-topic posts that appear only on Sundays. But not every week.
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Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Featured Comment by the other James: "I'm not a car person, but I have to say that watching Jay talk about his cars is a pleasure. He obviously gets a lot of joy from them and loves to share that joy in a very genuine (as opposed to Hollywood) way."
Featured Comment by m3photo: "Anyone for a Morgan? I believe it's a roadster too you know...."
Featured Comment by Ben: "Good choice of the E-Type, although bad choice of photo as what you have there appears to be V12 abomination. By then the E was getting fat, tired, middle-aged, wearing lots of make-up and soon to be replaced by the wacky XJS (a car that never really looked its best until a couple of years before it was retired). You want a photo of a Series 1 E-Type to really demonstrate the freshness and delicacy of the design." [In the same spirit, Speed suggests this photo —Ed.]
Featured Comment by Carsten Bockermann: "Excellent selection! I only have to disagree with the Mazda MX-5 NB as I definitely prefer the NA model with its retractable headlights."
Featured Comment by Dale: "When I was in Acadia last weekend, I was standing at Otter point overlook and a guy pulled up in a 'Bug Eye' Sprite ('61). I asked how many of them he had so he could keep one running and told me 'twelve'! Gotta love British sports cars. I have a friend who once owned 19 MGAs to achieve the same result...."
Featured Comment by Geoff Wittig: "Somehow I've never been able to get past the sense that roadsters are cars that really want to be motorcycles, but lack sufficient conviction. All the things roadsters have going for them—the wind on your face, simplicity, light weight and great moves—motorcycles have more of. And here in the great white north, I generally see roadsters at their worst—crusted with salt grime, torn canvas/rubber lid flapping in the breeze, that rear window scarred into opacity.
"But then, that's just the envy talkin'. I used to own and ride motorcycles, frequently going too fast. I mentioned to my wife last year how much fun a motorcycle might be again, since many of our early dates involved rides. She smiled indulgently and then said, 'Just make sure when you crash it you're killed cleanly, not just maimed. I don't want to be pushing your wheelchair.' She's sweet that way."
Featured Comment by John Krill: "'62 Vette. The best ever. Downhill from there."
Featured Comment by Mike Plews: "Great list even if it lacks my old TR3a. I think the 275GTS is the most beautiful drophead Ferrari but the 275GTB has a grip on me that is over 40 years old."
Featured Comment by Jim Hart: "You left out my first brand new car, paid for by poker money earned while in the U.S. Army, the 1970 Triumph Spitfire MKIII. $2,450 brand new out the door. The Triumph could be flogged through turns without too much concern about breaking speed laws. Four speed, four cylinder, two seater, curb weight @ 1600 pounds including fuel and driver. Top end about 95 mph, assuming a gently sloping downhill road, tail wind, and the deployment of a sail borrowed from the sloop America. 0-60...yes, eventually.
"It was an E-type for the folks from the poor side of town. Since then we've titled a number of roadsters and sports cars (including a Fiat 124 Spyder, an Opel GT and a Chevrolet Corvette, but the Spitfire remains my favorite driver.
"These days, being older and larger and not as willing to fold, spindle, and mutilate myself into the driver's seat, my daily driver is a Jeep Commander—but its stablemate in the garage is a 2005 Ford Thunderbird. The T-Bird fits the definition of roadster (drop head, V8, dual exhaust, two seater) but the automatic trans ruins the car for me. My wife loves it and it's her summertime daily driver, but I don't really consider it to be a 'roadster.'"
Featured Comment by Ed Hawco: "An unfulfilled roadster fantasy: in 1997 I spent three weeks in Las Vegas preparing for a trade show. As you can imagine, living on the strip for three weeks will drive anyone batty. Anyway, the BMW Z3 was new at the time and I was utterly in love with it but completely unable to afford one.
"However, one of the casinos on the strip had one mounted atop a bank of slot machines. All you had to do was hit the jackpot on one of the machines and the Z3 was yours.
"In the meantime, another casino had a Star Wars promotion on, which included a life-size Darth Vader doll as a jackpot.
"In my somewhat Vegas-crazed mind, I though I could win both, and that I would then embark on a trans-continental drive back to Montreal in my new Z3 with Darth Vader in the passenger seat.
"I won neither.
"Fortunately I didn't lose my shirt. A combination of small wins plus the occasional sanity check kept my losses digestible."
Mike replies: Ed, thanks for an amusing mental image!
The Jaguar E-type has always struck me as a bit overblown. The XK120 or 140 is more my taste. But how about the Jaguar SS100?
The Mazda's quite pretty but a bit mimsy.
Posted by: Tim Auger | Monday, 05 September 2011 at 06:41 PM
Interesting coincidence - all three cars mentioned in #7 owe their existence to one man, Max Hoffman, as does #3. Max emigrated to the US from Austria to avoid WW2, made a fortune in costume jewelry, then sold the business after the war to return to his roots - a car dealer/importer in 1947. He knew everyone in Europe, helped get the release Dr. Porsche from allied prison and began importing Mercedes-Benz, VW, Porsche, Allard, Jaguars and BMW to the US. Max convinced Alfa to built that version of the Spider, Porsche to do a cheap roadster called the "Speedster" and Mercedes to build the 300SL. He also was the father of the BMW 2002.
My brother was a dealer for Porsche/Alfa/Ferrari/Maserati/M-B in the 60s, so I have driven most of these cars. Nothing like 135 MPH in a Ferrari 275 GTS with the top down!
I've also owned dozens of Alfas, mostly Giuliettas, including a number of them I raced. Before my brother was a dealer, we had a MG-A and Healey 100-4 BN1R. Compared to the British cars of the era, the Alfa was incredibly high tech: cast aluminum engine, 5-speed all synchromesh transmission and rear axle cases, double overhead cams, two sidedraft Webers and ROLLUP WINDOWS. The look was smooth and well made (by hand in that era) with stressed bodies - not frames - and if you drove them correctly (e.g. HARD) they ran forever (175K on my TI Sedan, my first race car is still going strong after 49 years of racing history!)
The Brits were fun but crude. Porsches of the era were diabolical handlers but reliable as Beetles.
My experiences with these three countries' cars led me to conclude:
British cars are built by blacksmiths.
German cars are built by engineers.
Italian cars are built by artists.
Ciao!
Posted by: Jim Hayes | Tuesday, 06 September 2011 at 12:02 AM
BTW:
If you like to visit car museums, here is the world's best list which I helped create in November of 1995 - one of the first private web pages! http://www.team.net/www/museums/
Here is a history of the Giulietta Spider I wrote in the same era: http://velocissima.com/conv/GiuliettaHistory/SpiderHistory.htm
And finally, one of the great HUMOR publications from a car company, Arturo Reitz's "Enjoying Your Alfa"
http://velocissima.com/conv/EnjoyingYourAlfa/enjoy.htm
Posted by: Jim Hayes | Tuesday, 06 September 2011 at 12:04 AM
While looking up the earlier links, I discovered a "tongue-in cheek treatise" on car design on my own website that I had completely forgotten. It was written when I was periodically contributing to the BMW club magazine, but this one, on the controversy over the Chris Bangle designs (remember the "Bangle Butt?), was rejected. I wonder why?
http://www.jimhayes.com/design/index.html
PS: Mike, I promise no more posts on this topic...you just hit a few hot buttons...
Posted by: Jim Hayes | Tuesday, 06 September 2011 at 01:08 AM
Finally, John Ashbourne mentions Allard! I can understand if the Allard doesn't make the top ten, but I would've been shocked if I were the first to mention its name after so many comments.
The early '50s Allard J2s were beautiful, swoopy, long nosed, 2 seat roadsters whose "light British carriage/big American motor" combo preceded the AC/Cobra by a decade or so. Here, http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/199415_1680844894822_1048530152_1472611_723750_n.jpg, is a beautiful example from this year's Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance and here are some additional examples:
- Green Allard http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/190623_1680844974824_1048530152_1472612_8052630_n.jpg
- Black Allard http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/200591_1680844734818_1048530152_1472610_8128792_n.jpg
- White Allard http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/200691_1680845134828_1048530152_1472613_8262736_n.jpg
- Another Green Allard http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/199367_1680845214830_1048530152_1472614_1021020_n.jpg
- Racing Allard http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/199238_1680845334833_1048530152_1472615_5918723_n.jpg
(all photos by me)
Posted by: Ken Rahaim | Tuesday, 06 September 2011 at 02:54 PM
Excellent article and excellent selection (and I say that even if I didn't have a Mazdaspeed Miata).
Posted by: Mark | Wednesday, 07 September 2011 at 08:34 PM
In 1957 I was fortunate enough to acquire at the age of 18 a second-hand MG TC for £250GBP. Almost identical in appearance to the TA, it was in fact its postwar re-incarnation.
With her bright British Racing Green paintwork and chrome wire wheels, she was exceptionally pretty and for this young man it was love at first sight, although in time I found she never went quite as fast as her appearance had promised and showed a pronounced tendency to wander at speeds over over 70mph in those de-restricted speed limit days.
Come bad weather the hood would go up and the side screens get clipped in position. No wind down windows, just a flap on the side through which you stuck your arm to give hand signals. The side and rear view plastic panels became yellowed and cracked with use, and visibility was indistinct to say the least.
Heater? What heater? Mine had a circular hole cut out of the fibreboard above the driver’s and passenger’s legs. The forward motion of the car ducted warm air into the cockpit, along with that unique smell of hot oil on metal.
More endearingly, there was no petrol gauge. Instead you had a bronze dipstick about a metre long with nicks corresponding to gallons. Simply unclip the smart chrome petrol cap on the rear slab petrol tank, dunk the dip stick, withdraw and check the level. Simple and reliable.
The car itself was also reasonably reliable save for one fault. At slow speeds such as when negotiating the traffic jams of Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly, or Trafalgar Square, the plugs would oil up and the engine stall. Not a nice experience. No garage seemed able to fix this problem so I took to driving around with a set of 4 spare plugs and a plug spanner. Used to be able to change the plugs in under five minutes and get going again.
But then I needed something altogether more reliable and weatherproof for the journeys to and from the University at which I had just managed to scrape a place.
So the encounter with my TC came to an end and, as is often the case, this considerably older man from time to time sits back in his chair, shuts his eyes, and dreams of his first love.
Posted by: Len Salem | Thursday, 08 September 2011 at 02:02 AM