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PONTIAC SUNBIRD

Cloth-top Concept Car

Pontiac unveiled this little gem at the 1978 Detroit Auto Show.  It is a Pontiac Sunbird Sport Coupe that was designed with a rather unique rooptop application, a cloth-top.  The top was a water-proof cloth material that could be slid back into the roofline.  To add to the convertible feel of the car, the rear window was straight (not slanted back like the stock Sunbird coupe) and could be rolled down to allow a true ragtop feel to the car as wind rushed through the open top and out the back window.  The side windows are also covered by louvers which were see-through with a smoke tint and matched the louvered look of the rear of the roof line. 

Finished in silver with red pinstriping (to accent the red cloth interior) and allow snowflake rims the car is, otherwise, not much different from what could be found on the showroom floors in north America. 

Apparently the car was deemed roadworthy, registered and titled and ended up in Indiana, where it was then listed, approx. 29 years later, on ebay, with less than 300 original miles, but with an exterior that was quite rough looking.  Last anyone heard, it was being worked on in Duluth, Minnesota.

Click to enlarge the above 3 photos

Concept art of the Sunbird cloth-top

Sport Coupe