In Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show Oct 30, 2025

Vinyl Tops, Glory And Regret

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Term

vinyl wrap

A vinyl wrap is like a big sticker that goes over a car's paint. It can change the car's color or design without painting it, and it's easier to remove if you want to go back to the original look.

Term

vinyl roof

A vinyl roof is a type of covering made from a plastic material that was put on top of a car's roof to make it look nicer. This was especially popular in older cars, like those from the 70s.

Concept

automotive styling trends

Automotive styling trends are the popular looks and designs that cars have during certain years. These can change over time, like fashion does.

Term

A vinyl top is a decorative covering made of plastic that was used on cars to make them look fancy. It was very popular in the past, especially in the 70s, but can cause problems when fixing up old cars because it can hide rust.

Brand

Cadillac

Cadillac is another American car brand that makes luxury vehicles. They were among the last to put vinyl roofs on their cars, which used to be a trendy feature.

Brand

Buick

Buick is a car brand from America that makes luxury cars. They were one of the last companies to make cars with vinyl roofs, which were very stylish in the past.

Car

Chevrolet Corvette

The Chevrolet Corvette is a fast and stylish car that many people love. It has been around for a long time and is famous for being a cool sports car that can go really fast.

Part

427 V8

The 427 V8 is a type of engine that is very powerful and was used in some muscle cars. It has a big size, which helps it produce a lot of speed.

Car

Shelby Cobra

Car

Ford Torino

The Ford Torino King Cobra is a special car from 1971 that was built to compete in racing. It has a cool design and was meant to be very fast.

Car

Pontiac Torino

Car

Dodge Charger

The Dodge Charger is a big car that looks sporty and can go really fast. It has been popular for many years and is often talked about because of its powerful engine and cool design.

Car

Pontiac Catalina

The Pontiac Catalina is a large car that was made by the Pontiac brand. It was popular for many years and known for being comfortable and spacious.

Part

421 high output engine

The 421 high output engine is a powerful engine made by Pontiac. It was known for being fast and strong, especially in cars designed for racing.

Term

quarter mile performance

Quarter mile performance is how fast a car can go in a short race that measures a quarter mile. It's a way to see how quick a car can accelerate.

Car

Pontiac GTO

The Pontiac GTO is a famous car known for being fast and sporty. It was one of the first cars designed for racing and performance.

Car

American Motors Corporation (Amc) Matador

The AMC Matador is a car that was made in the 1970s and has a unique look. It was designed to be a family car and is remembered for its different style compared to other cars of that time.

Car

AMC Matador

The AMC Matador is a car that was made by a company called AMC in 1971. It was designed to be sportier and more powerful than earlier versions.

Part

401 V8

The 401 V8 is a type of engine that has eight cylinders arranged in a V shape. It's known for being powerful and was used in some AMC cars to give them better performance.

Car

Chevrolet Tahoe

The Chevrolet Tahoe is a large SUV that can carry many passengers and is often used for family trips or towing trailers.

Car

Ford Fairlane

Car

Ford Mustang

The Ford Mustang is a popular car that is known for being fast and fun to drive. It has a unique look and has been loved by many people since it first came out in the 1960s.

Term

valve covers

Valve covers are the parts on top of an engine that keep oil inside and protect the engine's inner parts. They help keep everything clean and working well.

Car

Dodge Road Runner

The Dodge Road Runner is a fun and fast car that was made a long time ago. It was designed to be lightweight so it could go really fast, and it has some unique features that make it special.

Term

aluminum block

An aluminum block is a part of the engine made from a lighter metal called aluminum. It helps make the car lighter and can improve how well it runs.

Car

Pontiac Transam

The 1973 Pontiac Trans Am SD 455 is a special version of the Trans Am sports car that has a powerful engine. It's rare and highly valued by collectors.

Term

Super Duty

Super Duty is a name used by Pontiac to show that a car has special performance features that make it faster and more powerful than regular models.

Concept

prototype

A prototype is an early version of a car that is made to test new ideas before the final version is built. It's like a test model to see if everything works well.

Term

pre-production

Pre-production means the stage before a car is made for sale. It's when the company tests the car to make sure everything is right.

Term

all aluminum V8

An all aluminum V8 is a lightweight engine with eight cylinders that helps cars go faster and use less fuel. It's made from aluminum instead of heavier materials.

Car

Pontiac Firebird

The Pontiac Firebird is a sporty car that was made a long time ago and is known for being fast and stylish. It was often compared to other popular cars like the Mustang and Camaro.

Car

Chevrolet Camaro

Term

engine overheating

Engine overheating happens when the engine gets too hot, which can cause serious damage. This can happen if there's not enough coolant or if something in the cooling system isn't working right.

Term

mechanical fan

A mechanical fan is a fan that helps keep the engine cool by pulling air through the radiator. It's connected directly to the engine, so it spins whenever the engine is running.

LIVE

Well, it's more than just 70s, it's just the actual concept of it because these days

if you use the word vinyl when describing a car's exterior styling, the first thing

comes to mind is especially for the young people would be the colored vinyl wrap.

It's not that.

These days a wrap is cost effective and relatively easy way to change the look of a vehicle.

However, before the era of body wraps when someone referred to a car having a vinyl roof,

it meant something more than just a rolled material and some adhesive and vinyl roofs

were done at home after the fact.

They were done on an assembly line.

The factory vinyl roof could be considered one of the most distinctive automotive styling

trends gaining popularity in the 1960s and lasting in various forms up until the 1990s

before disappearing completely.

Why do cars have vinyl tops?

They weren't used to protect the paint or preserve anything or vinyl wraps.

Nope, the vinyl roof was about style and one more way to add color to characters during

the time was with no way storage of options or personalization off the factory floor.

Vinyl roofs and other forms of fabric covers first began appearing on luxury vehicles,

the specialty cars in the late 40s and 50s.

It wasn't until the 60s that the vinyl roof option began to take off.

Initially, the idea was to give fixed roof cars the more upscale appearance of a convertible.

Go figure.

Some automakers even offering things like flower patterns, even textures inspired alligator

skins.

At peak, their popularity from the 60s into the early 70s were the factory vinyl tops

so ugly.

Available on everything from muscle cars to pickup trucks, even a C3 Corvette Don vinyl

covered removable top.

In the 70s and 80s, vinyl tops continued to be popular, but shifted more toward the

luxury car segment.

In the 70s, especially vinyl tops reached peak flamboyance, paired with things like

upper windows.

Buick and Cadillac were the last ones to offer factory vinyl roofs in 1996, though aftermarket

and dealer conversions have long been available for those who really wanted the vinyl top.

While they may have disappeared from modern cars, if you go to a classic car show today,

you'll see lots of vinyl roofs.

Many of them restored and recovered to look like new.

Vinyl tops aren't loved by all classic car fans, though.

When it comes to a vehicle restoration and bodywork, vinyl tops can be a bit more of

a nightmare.

For starters, the vinyl can be distressed, deteriorate, and exposure to the elements in

more noticeable manner than traditional painted roofs.

You know, really, for those rust durability reasons alone, not so much the aesthetics

and shortcomings, the vinyl tops are regularly considered one of the auto industry's worst

design trends and likely one that won't be returning anytime soon, Michael.

We had a Corvette and this was a 19, it was a 69 or 70 Corvette, brand new at Richardson

Chevrolet, and it was red, but it had a black vinyl roof on it.

They covered the teatop, individual panels, remember there were two back then, and it

was like, do I really like that?

I never could decide whether I like that or not, because they trimmed the edges with

chrome and it was just jacked up.

It wasn't until later that they went away with that one that I put it up to how ugly

that was that they were able to tuck it under so you couldn't see the edge.

Well, I have a story.

My dad with General Motors execs and all that, my doctor had a Cadillac and he

ordered a vinyl top that we actually did in our garage.

My father and I do it yourself on a vinyl top.

We was a factory vinyl top.

He had all the materials and stuff brought in and we did it in our garage.

It was like February.

Did you? Oh my God.

Yeah, they heat it to stretch it to heat the garage.

And it was before he to grow.

We had to get heaters out and all that and stretch it and glue and all that straight

came out straight to the paint came out perfect.

You put the glue over the paint.

Yeah, you just slather it on the whole car.

Give you little Elmer's bottles.

And yeah, it wasn't Elmer's.

It was that really smelly, ugly, yellowy looking stuff.

So time now for Jeff's car culture.

You've been crushed in forgotten muscle.

That's right.

So not every muscle car made it to glory.

Some were banned before they even hit the streets.

Others were quietly crushed after their moment had passed.

So this first one up on the block is a 1969 Chevrolet Corvette ZL1.

The 69 ZL1 was technically a production car, but just barely.

Chevy built just two of these powered with an all aluminum 427 V8 designated for racing.

The engine alone added four grand to the price, doubling the cost of that standard

Corvette and that you're made to expensive, too aggressive for the public rows.

The ZL1 faded into obscurity.

And it just well, it didn't fade that much because you got it on this thing.

Well, both examples survive, but they're they're in private collections and not used.

So next one, 71 Ford Torino King Cobra.

Ford's response to the Dodge Charger Daytona and then the Superbird was the Torino King Cobra.

Sleek, fastback and radically sloped nose designed for NASCAR.

Not that ugly.

Woo. Only three prototypes were built before NASCAR changed the rules after they built them.

It said no more.

No more of that with the program scrapped the King Cobra never reached production.

The prototypes were quietly shelved and the 429 jet engine silenced

before they could make the headlines.

I wonder where that car is today.

They're in the museum.

The museum piece.

Some museum piece.

65 Pontiac Catalina two plus.

I remember these.

421 high output.

Yeah, I remember these.

I love that car.

Pontiac Catalina two plus two was built to move, especially when equipped with the 421

high output engine, making 376 horsepower at the time.

Though it was a full size coupe, it had quarter mile performance that rivaled mid size

muscle cars, but overshadowed by its GTO sibling.

So it's a little bit smaller on the GTO side, but that's a beautiful car.

Plus it's a rag top.

That's good.

Next one we're going to go to Mike is a 71 AMC Matador machine.

The machine.

AMC planned to follow up with the Rebel machine with a more aggressive Matador version in 71.

The idea was to carry over the machine's 401 V8 and the graphics,

but marketing didn't back it.

They didn't like it.

A few prototypes were made, but the project quietly died before mass production.

What's left of the Matador machine concept is mostly photos, paperwork, and a few scattered

parts.

No one completed.

No, no, no, no completed cars have survived making it one of the strangest.

No, wait just a minute.

That's a late model Tahoe back there in the back.

So somebody's got that.

Yeah, it's got that there, but that's just what I can tell you.

Okay.

Maybe it's a photo shot.

It could be.

1966 Fairlane GTX prototype.

This Fairlane was a Ford prototype created to bridge the gap between the Mustang and the

full size.

So what are the valve covers that have shot through the hood?

There have been.

What the hell is that?

Loose bolts.

I think it's been recalled.

No, but if you think about, if you think about the, the later models of the road runner and

stuff, they had hoods.

Not like that.

That's not near that tall, but I mean, or it wore unique badging interior trim reported,

reportedly tested a few suspension tweaks that would later show up on the GT and the Cobra models.

It never intended for production, but after a few developmental changes,

it was reportedly destroyed.

What makes it interesting is how the little photographic evidence remains.

One of these cars you hear about engineering's performed executives, all that good stuff.

No one knows where it went.

So that, that is a new explore or something.

Yeah.

It's an expedition or something.

There you go.

Uh, 73.

Somebody has that car.

73 Pontiac Transam SD 455 with an aluminum block, or as they say, aluminum block.

SD was super duty, super duty 455 is already a rare piece of Pontiac history,

but there's a subset of prototypes that took things further.

A handful of pre-production cars were fitted with experimental aluminum blocks

for weight savings and better heat distribution.

Only a few were ever built and most were destroyed after testing.

None were sold to the public.

Rumors persisted about one surviving car, private hands, but nothing has been confirmed.

That's a pretty car.

I like that car.

Well, that would be easy to do.

You could hide, hide that all aluminum V8 underneath the hood,

even though it was just a regular Transam at the time, or a Camaro or Firebird, whatever.

All the externals.

And there's companies that make the retro.

They'll take a new Camaro and they'll make it look with the old body styling and stuff.

It's still new, but they'll make it kind of retro looking.

That's no fun.

I had an aluminum block car one time.

It was the lightweight, I understand, but it always had a heating problem.

You had to be careful that you didn't cook the engine,

because it just didn't take much to heat it up.

Well, you're probably using the mechanical fan on the front there of the motor.

Oh, absolutely.

1963.

Oh, oh, yeah.

We have electric fans back then.

They didn't inject them back then.

So it was, you know, I could see why they tried it, but it didn't work so good.

About this episode

Exploring the fascinating history of vinyl tops in cars, this episode dives into their rise and fall as a distinctive styling choice from the 1960s to the 1990s. The hosts discuss how vinyl roofs were initially designed to give fixed-roof cars a convertible look, featuring unique textures and patterns. They also share personal anecdotes about DIY vinyl installations and the challenges of restoring these classic features. Additionally, the episode highlights forgotten muscle cars that never made it to production, including rare prototypes and their stories.

401 V8 421 high output engine 427 V8 all aluminum V8 aluminum block automotive styling trends Buick Cadillac engine overheating mechanical fan

AMC Matador Chevrolet Camaro Chevrolet Corvette Chevrolet Tahoe Dodge Charger Dodge Road Runner Ford Fairlane Ford Mustang Ford Torino Pontiac Catalina Pontiac Firebird Pontiac GTO Pontiac Trans Am Shelby Cobra

Original notes

A vinyl roof once meant instant glamour. We open with the style story that turned sedans into showroom stars, tracing how factory-installed tops promised convertible vibes without the compromise. From luxury badges to muscle icons, the trend peaked with opera windows and bold textures, then collided with reality—moisture trapped under fabric, hidden rust, and a slow retreat from the option sheets by the 1990s.

Then the conversation downshifts into the shadows: the machines that were too rare, too radical, or too rule-breaking to live a normal life. We unpack the near-mythic 1969 Corvette ZL1 with its all-aluminum 427, Ford’s aero-slick Torino King Cobra stopped by a NASCAR rule change, and Pontiac’s full-size Catalina 2+2 eclipsed by the GTO spotlight. Alongside them sit the AMC Matador Machine that marketing wouldn’t bless and a ghostly Ford Fairlane prototype that left almost no trace beyond rumors and a few photos.

We close under the hood with Pontiac’s experimental Super Duty 455 aluminum blocks—lighter, hotter, and nearly impossible to cool with the era’s hardware. It’s a tour of ambition meeting constraints: fashion versus longevity in vinyl roofs, engineering prowess versus budgets and rulebooks in outlaw muscle. If you love automotive history, restoration challenges, and the legends that almost made it, this ride is for you. Subscribe for more deep dives, share with a fellow gearhead, and tell us: which lost car would you bring back and why?

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