[DANTIP]

I own a very original black/black '66 Tri Power GTO and love the look of vinyl tops. I'm considering adding a top but have a few questions.
1. Are the required trim pieces hard to find?
2. Is the correct top material available?
3. Are there people out there that can do a great job of installing the top and trim?
4. Will I be hurting the value of my original black/black car by adding a vinyl top?

Thx!

Dan

[Chief of the 60's]

I knew a guy with a black on black on black '67. That cars was sweet.

[SIX8YAK]

Sounds like a killer car. I opted to get rid of my vinyl top on the 68 Grand Prix, but kept the trim and tabs for originality sake if that were to ever arise. So I would say that if it didn't come with it, then by applying it you would hurt the value. By how much depends of course, but all OG seems to always take the cake when it comes to resale.

[Jeff Hamlin]

...is hard to beat but if your car is as original as you say it could effect value.
But at the end of the day it's your car to do with as you wish.
The necessary trim/moldings are available as well as correct vinyl.
Lots of good installers to do this task,
so its just a matter of what do you want.

[DANTIP]

Here's a few pics of the car.

[Chris65LeMans]

I like vinyl tops, too. If my car was a 66-70, I'd consider adding one. I don't think they look "right" on the earlier roofs, though.

[eaglesan13]

I once had a 65 GTO (Teal Turquoise with a black vinyl top) and a 67 GTO (Tyrol blue, no vinyl top) at the same time. I wanted to remove the top from the 65 but add one to the 67. I think the roof of the 65 is so clean that the vinyl top didn't look good on the car. I wanted to add the vinyl top to the 67 because I think it added to the look of the car. The 66-67 body is long, that the vinyl top breaks up the car and makes it look shorter to me. Anyway, it's your car so do what you want to it. I think the vinyl top looks good on the 66-67's. I can't comment on the cost or availability of the moldings since both my cars were sold and I'm into F-bodies now.

[GT182]

Like Jeff said..."it's your car to do with as you wish." Dan, your black on black 66 is one gorgeous car as it is now. If you add the vinyl top, it then becomes a modified car, tho most won't know that until you sell it.

One thing to remember.... it can rust under that vinyl, and more than likely will as time goes on. That's the one reason I've never wanted a classic car with a vinyl top. Yes they do look good, but to me paint is better and far easier to take care of. But that's only my dumbass opinion.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Black top on Factory Starlight Black 68 GTO. Just as sharp as my 1st car; a Black top on a Flambeau Burgundy 68 LeMans.

[77 TRASHCAN]

I like the look, on the appropriate car, but the risk of rust starting under the vinyl top turns me away from the deal. Yours looks perfect as is!

[67GTONUT]

Your car..... do as you wish....

But I would NOT mess with that car..... perfect as is...

[lust4speed]

My feelings are that vinyl tops almost belong on the 66 and 67. Lots of sheet metal and the contrast of the vinyl just makes these cars look balanced. I ordered my 67 blue GTO with the black vinyl top, and added a white top on the red 67 GTO when I restored it in 1988.

I don't like vinyl tops on any 64, and the paint color has to be right on the 65 to fully pull it off. Second GTO I ever rode in was a girl's 65 (in early 1965) that her dad bought her - Mayfair Maize with black vinyl top, black interior, 4-speed and Tri-Power. Wish I could have been adopted into that family. Both Mayfair Maize and Black 65's easily pull off the vinyl top, other colors maybe not so much.

[West Coast GTO]

Your black GTO is beautiful. I would not put a vinyl top on such a flawless black car but that is just me.
Attached are pics of my 70 GTO without and finally with the vinyl top and I wish that I had the top put on as soon as I bought it. Also the current car: triple black 71.

[Judge273]

I'm sure 1-3 of your concerns are easy to answer.

All it takes is time and money to add one. Maybe 2k for a stab.

4. My opinion is...Yes, it will hurt value to add that to a very original numbers car that didn't have it originally.

Most new buyers can rationalize adding one that wasn't put back after repaint if necessary.

But, to take one off that wasn't there is a deduct in figuring value with a bigger cost than to add...

[Tempest]

Your car is stunning, just the way it is.

If you have an 'itch' to spend money to change the look , try going with another set of wheels and tires (although I love the red lines with Rally 1's) maybe Rally 2's, or Dog Dish on steelies, or Torque Thrust D's, or set of Cragars, or ...????


This way you will change the look of your car, but not permanently.

I put a set of Dog Dish on mine, just to change things up for a bit.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN

I like the look, on the appropriate car, but the risk of rust starting under the vinyl top turns me away from the deal. Yours looks perfect as is!

That only happened when the cars were new. GM used nitrocellulose lacquer paint and did not put much on the roof of a car that was getting a vinyl top. Today, in a restoration, you have urethane paint and painters that will paint the roof. The rust issues of old will not happen on a modern restored vehicle.

To the OP, there is currently a set of the mouldings on Ebay with a BIN for $125.00 and a finished roof does not cost anywhere near 2 grand. Don't let the fear mongers scare you.

If you want to do it, go for it! Your car, your choice.

[John V.]

I'm surprised that so many seem to like vinyl tops here.

I've always been a convertible guy. Back in the late '60s and thru the '70s, I hated to see a car with a vinyl top. It always looked cheap to me, just the opposite of what seemed to be the marketing intent, to add a bit of "luxury" to the car. Cadillacs almost always had a vinyl top in those days and they seemed to proliferate to any and all other models, including cheap econocars.

From an aesthetics standpoint, they emulated a convertible look without the virtue of being able to lower the top. I abided by my dad's opinion, from whom I inherited my love of convertibles. He would say the only convertible that looked better with the top up was the VW Beetle, it was NOT a compliment. All others looked best with the top down. A coupe with a vinyl top was mimicking the least attractive look of the 'vert.

It was a styling fad that a lot of people liked and they sold a ton of cars with them. It looked good in the way that any styling fad looked good while it was popular. In time, most styling fads fizzled. Some we look back on and say, "what were people thinking?". Think big tailfins and garish chrome on the late '50s cars.

Today I can tolerate a vinyl top on a vintage car as symbolic of the era. But only if it was factory original to the car. And I still think it detracts from the aesthetics of any coupe but in particular those that have very flowing lines, like the '68-'72 GM A bodies and the 2nd gen F body.

If it wasn't original to the car I would question why you would add it. It does not make the car more attractive in my opinion. Value is a tough question. Not sure it would devalue the car but it probably wouldn't return what it would cost to add it. An average value car would probably sell for the same money with or without it. If it was a high end concours example, it might devalue it.

I would not be a potential buyer for a '66 coupe so my opinion isn't real important. And it IS your car so I agree you should do what you think makes you happy.

[U47]

Some cars can get away with a vinyl top, and others cannot. I have a 69 H-O LeMans. After reading how the styling of that car evolved by the designer Bill Porter, it makes perfect sense that I should have NEVER ordered the car with one in the first place. The vinyl roof on the 68-72 "A" body should have never happened. The sail panel was designed to flow into the rear quarter panels and the vinyl roof breaks this up. It was purely a marketing advantage to have one for the cars against the competition. My vinyl top is original and that is a very rare thing these days, but considering the car was taken out of regular service in 1974 and hasn't seen rain since then it looks fine, although I did re-dye it in 1992.
I have seen with other cars that had their old roofs torn off, some were factory painted, others only primed, still others bare metal and only the glue and vinyl protecting the roof ( that car was a 72 Riviera ) . The vinyl roofs adversary is SUN and moisture. Sun on top and moisture underneath. For some people the real surprise comes when removing the vinyl on what seemed to be a serviceable roof to find a rust out. The 1968- 72 Cutlass seemed to solve some of that problem because Olds put the trunk lid right up to the backlight glass eliminating the panel under the glass where water collects and rotting the panel.
Bill Porters recollection of some of this stuff from the cars designer point of view was summed up by saying the sales guys loved the vinyl roofs, phony wire wheels, pin stripes, competition stripes, opera lights--all those add- ons they could charge extra for. Irv Ribicki executive in charge of Chevrolet, Pontiac & GMC was against it, and later got a very popular 5 series BMW and put a vinyl roof, pin stripes and phony wire wheels and he showed it to the sales guys and said " This is what you guys are doing to our cars-now what do you think about it on a BMW?" And of course it ruined the looks of the BMW, just like it would ruin any other car.

[Mister Pontiac]

Originally Posted by John V.

I'm surprised that so many seem to like vinyl tops here.

I think it's a change over time. I did not like them in my younger years, so much so that I took one off of my 70 GTO back then. Today I would not remove it. The look has grown on me little by little over the years to where now I actually prefer the look (68-72).

Originally Posted by U47

Some cars can get away with a vinyl top, and others cannot. I have a 69 H-O LeMans. After reading how the styling of that car evolved by the designer Bill Porter, it makes perfect sense that I should have NEVER ordered the car with one in the first place. The vinyl roof on the 68-72 "A" body should have never happened. The sail panel was designed to flow into the rear quarter panels and the vinyl roof breaks this up.

I think this is still a subjective assessment. I understand the theory that it 'breaks up' the flowing sail panel area and that it was 'designed' to flow,' but that is also what makes the 68-72 vinyl top/painted roof appeal to me. That sharp line, cut right across the center of the upper quarter breaks up some of the visual 'bulkiness' of the sail panel. Ironically, I actually don't like the vinyl tops on the 64-67 cars as they already have a body line that separates the roof line from the quarter.

So, to the OP, most of the considerations about value/devalue have been posted. And as many others have said, it's your car. Build it the way you want to build it.

[bird72]

Terrible, nasty things they are

Seriously, your car, being a black / black car especially, deserves originality.