Another custom E-type in the works

Simply moving the b-post back into the quarter panel doesn’t change the overall length of the car.

Tell you what, I will post a question and see if the builder responds.

Hard to tell but might be even sleeker looking if they had left it as a long wheel base car. The shape of the quarter window area behind the door window frame looks a little strange to my eye.

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No need, I see what you are saying.

A visit to Ida’s website shows that he knows his rooflines. The inexcusable mistake Foose made was starting with a roadster…not much to work with. The legendary “most beautiful car” remark (true or not) at the unveiling of the E-type in 1961 was in regard to an FHC. I like the side exit pipes but would work with the diameter and the placement a bit. I guess the “bonnet” becomes a traditional center opening style.

Doesn’t chopping the top of a 2+2 and shortening the wheelbase of a Series 3 just get you something close to a Series 1 coupe, but without the exquisite proportions?

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I don’t know, I’m not member of the ‘you can’t mess with perfection’ cult.

I believe there are a lot of beautiful car designs, but I don’t believe any one of them is perfect. I also believe there are quite a few design details of the early E-type that are open for improvement…the elusive trick is having someone improve on a few of them without mucking up the good details.

I’m all for seeing someone with excellent design skills and incredible workmanship take their best shot at reimagining something, and if a rotten-to-the-core S2 2+2 get sacrificed in the process, I’m ok with that.

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The longer sloping S2 windshield in combination with the top chop is the game changer versus the S1…not sure what that tall piece of w/s glass is in one of the earlier photos…

I bet it’s just some random, late-model glass that had the right curvature for what they wanted to achieve.

A buddy of mine recently finished a V8-powered MGB that he widened by 11 inches. For the glass, he found that a ‘67 Impala had a nice, big piece of glass with a good curvature. He cut a very small segment out of the middle of it, then formed his windshield frame to accommodate it.

It came out very nice, and it was his first go-round with doing anything like that. I would imagine that after doing it a few times, you could really get good at spotting the right “donor” glass for your project.

And that is where Dave Kindig excells…
I would love to see his interpretation of an “E”.

Yeah. Just imagine if it had been an OTS. Poor old smitten Enzo might have really been impressed.

Ok. I admit. The S1 coupe is definitely prettier, but there is nothing comparable to driving fast in an open E-type down a twisty road. And an OTS fitted with matching hardtop ain’t too shabby, either.

Just not as aerodynamically sexy as the fixed head.

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IMO, virtually a convertible anything is more fun than the same car with a steel top.

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I don’t think the same thrill can be achieved in a Yugo convertible

but maybe that’s just me

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You stated “but there is nothing comparable to driving fast in an open…”. The only way that Yugo could go fast is off a cliff! Those were truly the epitome of a POS car.

But… but… they were FIATS! FIATS could be fast…:wink:

Probably not, but still more fun than the hardtop version IMHO.
Cheers,
LLynn :slight_smile:

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I had a chance to get a Yugo droptop, cheap, when their importation was shut down: driving it with the lid off was kinda cool!

If one knew how to service the FIAT bits, they could be made to run quite well… it was all the ancillary bits that were terribly-made.

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Hey now here’s a great Fiat, and near Joey! Maybe he can do an inspection on it.

Driving an open top car used to be the cats meow. As my spouse and I move on in years, our air conditioned FHC is where it’s at. Getting battered with the top down or the windows open is no longer our idea of fun.

The other thing I can’t get past on an OTS is how even normally sized guys appear to sit ON them, rather than IN them. On a S2, the headrests hit a lot of people between the shoulder blades!

I realize an fhc provides no extra interior room, but the tin top does do a good job of hiding the fact that most people don’t fit in E-types very well.

Anyone over about 5’11” to 6’ starts to look like this in an OTS…

Here you go, Erica…this one isn’t going to win any prizes for aesthetics, but it illustrates the point.

I think an evolution on this idea on the Rob Ida car would go a long way toward making it a real car, rather than a novelty.

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