[tom406]

You find many examples of painted roofs in the late 50's early 60's, before vinyl roofs came on the scene. Also rooflines were more defined. Most I've come across were like my '63 Galaxie, which was delivered to the Phoenix AZ sales district with a white painted top on its burgandy body. I've seen several examples from AZ/CA areas where white tops were ordered to minimize heat soak from the sun. Ford had a large number of two tone paint combinations available that year, and I wish my car had been specified with the same Rose Beige paint on top as the interior color. As it is, I repainted it all burgandy, as the white just didn't go with anything else on the car.

Though it would appear there was an effort to keep offering two tones in the early '70's, I would think most people so inclined would have opted for the vinyl tops to achieve the same effect. Also, I've always thought '68-'72 A-bodies, the very similarly shaped '70-up Dusters and Demons, and other cars with Coke Bottle shapes and flowing C-pillar designs look awkward with that artificial break of chrome trim and color in the middle of that sweeping C-pillar.

I'm always pleasantly surprised by the strong American car culture in the Scandinavian countries. I half expect to find an American Automotive Restoration section when I go to IKEA.