Retractable Hardtop
 

So, why does our favorite Stuttgart manufacturer not offer retractable hardtops on their convertibles? I realize this adds extra weight over the soft top but wouldn't all but the most enthusiastic and hardened racers be comfortable with this compromise versus the added convenience of the hard top? One of my colleagues at work has an E93 with such a hardtop. Really convenient (but also scary complicated mechanicals).

I imagine a company that thinks a cupholder and stereo are useless probably don't see the need to engineer a retractable hardtop. Too much weight.

BTW...
Here's the original hardtop convertible. Quite the marvel in its day.

My dad's 1957 Ford Skyliner
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1510373462.jpg

For those of you too young, this is how it worked (along with some crossed fingers).
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A retractable hardtop would probably weight at least 2-3 times a regular hardtop (about 55lbs) with all of the necessary motors and things. I also think having an extra 150+lbs above the engine would comprise handling. Retractable hardtops are nice, but the Boxster is a sports car, not a luxury car. If you want a retractable hardtop I am sure Porsche would love to upsell you to a 911 Targa.

The Boxster is a mid-engined sports car. That’s why.

Nah, plenty of room in the rear trunk to store it. The Miata eventually went this route so maybe just a matter of time. After all, if Porsche is going to stick us with the very unmanly turbo 4 bangers they might as well give us the girly retractable hardtops to match. Who are the ricers now?

Weight is the enemy of all performance...
 

....as Colin Chapman said, “Add lightness.”

50 pounds, added to the TOP of the car, is a whole lot of not good.

Our 986 has a MAGNESIUM convertible top frame!

Think about that.

It was so critical to Porsche to drop the weight of the top, they used one of the most expensive metals on the planet to make their top out of in order to make it as light as possible.

It’s a SPORTS car.

You want a retractable hard top? You don’t want a sports car. Go buy a Mercedes or BMW and pretend you are driving a sports car.

MAZDA did it because they are a challenger brand and needed something different to spark sales of a car that has been around since 1990 in a shrinking sports car market world because more people like you exist who don’t want to make the sacrifices needed to drive a real Sports Car.

:cheers:

Very cool. A couple of these recently sold at the Barrett Jackson auctions in Scottsdale.

So, if Porsche did offer a Boxster with a retractable hardtop, and it added 75lbs to the car, cost another $5k and took away most of the trunk room would you buy one new....? Me neither. When was the last time you saw a new Porsche Targa? Hmmm, I can't recall either.

For what it is worth, I own a retractable hardtop; a '09 VW Eos that my wife uses as a commuter. It is nice for car that you drive year round as a second car, but it is NOT a performance car. I wouldn't put up with the trade-offs in a performance car. I also have four convertibles right now, my '03 Boxster S, a '02 Audi TT 225 quattro roadster, and a '79 Triumph Spitfire.

Yeah I'd take one. Remarkably similar mechanically for 60 years.

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1517076746.jpg

But if you were given $130k to spend on a 911, is that what you would buy? Not me... Personally, I think it is silly. That is a lot of complexity for something not much better than a sunroof.

If I was going to go with a 911, I would get a coupe. Maybe add a sunroof.

YMMV.

HAHA. While it followed your post it was really meant to address the OP and the opinion that Porsche would never do something like this to a sports car. Obviously they would. IMHO the last and best Targas ended in the 80s. The first time I saw the sliding targa roof on the 993 I wondered what soccer moms they were marketing these to. While I appreciate the Retro nod I agree this is ridiculously complex, to absurd. However I'd take it I just wouldn't pay for it.

I mean talk about confused aren't those PCCB's????

Yeah. that seems like a "because they could" car. Other than the silly roof, it is a nice looking car. The early Targas were relatively simple. I think Porsche used the Targas as proof of "engineering prowess", much like convertible hardtops have always been. They really don't make sense, other than as curiosities. They do make for great pictures at the beach... ;)

One of the shops I work with has a customer with a 993 Targa. She has put more money into keeping that top operational than I would put up with, but she loves it.

Is it? To me, it has much more of a GT feel. I've owned a '72 MGB and that was a true sports car. You are complaining about 50-75 lbs for a hardtop yet your 986 has AC and power everything (including the roof). A Lotus Elise or Exige is a sports car just like old British sports cars.

Porsche-Eh....
 

....Fair, enough.

I'm with you there.

I put 325,786 miles on my 1993 Miata and another 257,891 miles on a 1990 miata that I installed a Flyin' Miata turbo kit on.

I wanted more of a "GT" car and that is, indeed, why I chose the Boxster.

The Elise, Exige, S2000, were too much like my old Miata and too hard core for my more cushy, GT needs, as I have aged.

STILL, an extra 50 pounds at the TOP of the car, is bad for a GT as well.

:cheers:

The removable hard top is the "classic" choice. Soft top, removable hard top, and a tonneau cover, are the classic sports car trinity solution tops for purists.

On a road trip, if you are visiting a certain area and using one central location as a base of operation, you drive across the country with the hard top on, remove it at your destination and put it inside your rental home, and make day trips with the soft top, then replace the hard top for the trip home.

Simple.:D

Me too! Except mine was a '97 (see below - had the 1.8 but also the stupid ride height). Good for 20 year olds; and those who want that British car feel but better built ;)

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