Porphil

There's a good-looking hardtop I've seen on a cab 993 advertised for sale in the January '911 & Porsche' magazine (p. 128). It's making me wonder whether I could stop salivating over Targa 993s.

Does anyone know anything about that hardtop, where it's available, what it's made of, is the rear window heated, is it a quality piece, and of course the cost?

Although I like a cab's open air feel some of the time, I hadn't considered getting a cab before because of the usual reasons - poor rear visibility with top up or down, security, cost of replacement and appearance. The Targa goes aways in dealing with these negatives, even looks almost as good as the coupe, but is more expensive and rarer than a cab.

But this hardtop seems to duplicate the coupe roof and side and rear window line (except at the joins). I'm imagining on occasion driving with both hardtop and that upward projecting collapsed soft-top off altogether for a perfect open feeling. Is it too good to be true?

David in LA

If it's the hardtop I think you are referring to, it is a PIA to use. You have to remover your soft-top and install this in it's place. There was one for sale on ebay a number of mos back...I think it wound up selling for $2-4K

Porphil

David, thanks for the reply. I was expecting to have to remove the softtop structure to attach the hardtop - prepared for, say, a 20 minute removal operation with some jury-rigged winching affair in the garage.
$4K American would probably take me close to Targa price levels. But if $2K, it might make sense.
Is there any way to retrieve that old eBay listing?

fbfisher

There was another thread about this a while back with a photo. You may want to try a search of the archives.

Let's put the cost of cab top into perspective with other wear items: Let's say the cab top is $2,500 to replace, some have paid more, others less. Tires cost about $1,200 for a new set of SO2's. A new clutch is about $3,000. New pads and rotors with a brake fluid flush is around $1,300. New steering rack, $1,400.

My point is that it is more than some other wear items, but not so much so that you should avoid doing it.

As far as security goes, if someone wants in your car they are going to get in. Any damage is covered by insurance = non-issue. As with any car, keep valuables out of sight in the trunk.

As to poor visability with the top up or down, I beg to differ. There is no better visability available than on a cab with the top down. No blind spots and unlimited/obstructed visability. Top up, yeah that is less clear than glass but worth the trade off of going topless. It's not like you have to read through your rear view mirror very often. And that special red light of law enforcement seem unencumbered by the plastic window.

As to appearance, I think the 993 cab with the top down looks pretty cool and I personally never have been particularly envious of the coupe lines as opposed to the lines of a cab with the top up. This is a personal issue and to each his/her own.

There are other threads about comparing the Cab and Targa so I won't go into that here. Personally, I think comparing a sunroof coupe to a 993 Targa is more reasonable than comparing a Cab to a Targa.

My $0.02

24FPS

i'll 'ditto' that!

Porphil

Son of a gun, fbfisher, what you can find when you go looking. A search turned up a Jeremy G in the UK on the 964 forum who investigated a used hardtop selling for 2,000 pounds. He saw it and was impressed with the quality as it stood unattached. It had heating wires in the rear window, too. No photo in the thread though. He had referred to it as 'fabled' - doesn't seem as though it was a success on the accessories market and it may no longer be manufactured. I may try to reach Jeremy - the thread left off with him about to arrange a trial fitting to his car last September.

What I'm really trying to compare to the Targa is the cab WITH this potential hardtop option. My reluctance over the rear visibility with the cab top down relates to my long ingrained peculiarity of whipping my head around quickly to check behind rather than relying on the mirrors. So I would (I expect) feel insecure having a significant part of my rear vision blocked by the protruding folded or booted top. I haven't tried it, but it really does look like it sticks up a lot. Now using the rearview mirror allows one to see down somewhat farther (to that aspiring little Miata) than using the over the shoulder view, but I've never been able to wean myself of the habit.

I can't be as dismissive of insurance hassles and raised premiums when malicious little buggers can so easily and repeatedly vandalize your top. And the eventual $2500 when the top wears out is not overriding but still a factor.

You California cab owners get more top down time than someone from northern damp Toronto (what, me envious?) and so you do better on the cab tradeoffs.

nile13

Porphil, as a cold Boston resident that owned assorted cabriolets for the last 5.5 years as my daily drivers and a 993 cab now, I will tell you this - all your concerns will seem like a minor things once you start driving the car.

max911

i saw a factory hardtop at a shop last fall. (took a couple of pictures)
it was a very expensive and rare option.
as David in LA said, you must remove the softtop to install the hardtop; so it is something you would only do once for the winter, and remove in the spring. ...unless you have a lot of time and money.
the top i saw was for sale at the time, and i posted it on the pelican 911 board in case anyone there was looking for one.
for a 993 installation, you may have to change the latch system somewhat.
here is the old thread

max

solsrch

As some have said, and I believe many will echo, vision with the top down, through use of the mirror or a quick swivel around, is not a problem with the top down. The plastic can easily be cleaned so it is nearly as clear as glass (at least mine) but the rear "window" is kind-of small. The only downside I see is with the top up. Not my preferred method of driving but hey, that's why the cool side view mirrors with built in defrosters are on the car.

Porphil

The reassurances on top down rear visibility are encouraging - even if I were to try for the hardtop.

Max, that Pelican link with your photos was great. Any idea what those 3 buttons beside the rain gutter are? Lots of grist for the mill in that link. An $8,000 OEM hardtop? That's why they're so rare. But what's the black one that's galvanized shown in the incomplete brochure? It's not identified. The fibreglass one from Paul's Exotics looked clumsy along the top of the door window. Someone in the thread mentions 6 to 8 hours installation time at Porsche??? Connecting the electricals for the heating wires maybe, that first time. And I found that the reference to Porsche dealers liquidating their 996 hardtops for $499 was very ironic. Here I am trying to go the other route on a 993. And if I do, it might even make sense to find the hardtop first, probably OEM, and then get the cab.

But I'm not there yet. Lots to think about. And research further.

max911

the 6 to 8 hours labor is for the soft top installation and alignment each time it has to be reinstalled. maybe you missed that point: to put on the hardtop, you must first completely remove the softtop!! therefore, come spring time, you must do a complete reinstall of the soft top.

as i understand, the 996 cabs come with the hardtop as a no-cost option. (although you can check off an option delete box for a price reduction). the price for the 996 tops reflects the supply over the demand.

max

Porphil

I understand the necessary removal of the softtop to allow hardtop installation, but I never imagined an involved 6 to 8 hour process for it. It kind of puts a crimp in my notion of easy conversion at will.

It's occuring to me now that there's little visibility (or appearance) benefit to the 996 hardtop compared to the 993 one and therefore little incentive to do even the seasonal switchover.

solsrch

I was driving today with the top up (mid-30s here) and noticed that while the rear window is smaller on the soft top, I can see both headrests in my mirror. In other words, the headrests are the limiting factor in peripheral vision with the rearview mirror. So a hardtop wouldn't change that at all.

Matt Vaughan

It's probably the Strosek hardtop. I ordered one when I had my '95 Cab, but returned it when I saw it. The quality was not too good, and would have required a lot of work to bring it up to par. Factor in that you had to remove the top to fit the hardtop was not too convenient either.

amfp

I would also question keep the excessive wear and tear of top down for prolong period of time even if the hard top worked.