[north]

While both cars are fundamentally the same size being together in my home garage made me notice just how different the roofline is between the hardtop and pillared sedan 4 doors.

First off the sedan windshield is different than the hardtop. It is substantially taller leaving the sedan taller overall than the hardtop. It is noticeable when you sit in the car that the sedan has an airier front view.

Next the roof shape is completely different from most angles. While both roofs have a smooth curve above the windshield the side of the sedan is also rounded above the drip molding but the hardtop has a very crisp and sharp edge that goes all the way back, down the side of the rear glass and becomes the sharp edge that flows right to the rear bumper. Inversely the sedan has a sharp line that surrounds the back glass on both sides and top that continues into the quarter peaks right to the bumper.

The side view is also quite different because the sedan roof to door glass frame line is smoothly rounded down as it becomes the front of the C pillar while the horizontal side roof line of the hardtop is straighter over the glass and then is sharply cut to the near vertical C pillar line.

Next are two completely different back glass designs with the sedan having a more rounded convex shape and the hardtop having a much crisper convex shape with a defined center ridge that was a foretaste of the even sharper 71 B and C body back glass.

While both rooflines are attractive in my opinion the 4 door hardtop roofline is an excellent execution of sharp lean and well balanced design.

Exceptionally in the 69-70 B bodies I believe the 4 door hardtop was esthetically superior to the 2 door hardtop roof design. A rare situation when a 4 door looks sleeker and better balanced than the more inherently sporty 2 doors.

The two door hardtop also had a completely different roofline esthetic with a high squared edge above the windshield and an unusually recessed back glass. I can’t think of another GM platform that had such different rooflines (apart from wagons and ragtops of course).