What is that, and does it have to be an expensive car?

What makes a roadster what it is...

 

When I think "roadster", I think of a little, sporty, 2-seater ragtop. Like those that MG and Triumph put out back in the day...

 

Never gave it much thought, but this wiki seems to nail it pretty well -- even without citations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadster_(automobile)

hj

 

Just what I was thinking and IMHO, any home made 2 seater such as an old Ford.

 

I kind of thought that too, for some reason I think MG-A though. OPEN wheel...

I was into the need for speed games again - and one of the races is all Roadsters. Porche, BMW, and so on. That's what made me curious

 

Ragtop with isinglass/plexiglass windows. Like the surrey with the fringe on the top.

Convertibles have roll-up glass windows.

Hi-boy = Ford roadster with fenders/splash shields removed exposing body riding high atop the frame rails.

 

My dad used to race MG-A's and MG-B's while he was stationed over somewhere on the CA coast (San Diego), in the USN in the mid 1960's, he relayed a story once about how he once got into a race with an an aluminum-bodied Corvette (I never questioned him on this because he is my dad, but even then I had known 'vette's to be fiberglass so, if anyone here can validate whether or not an aluminum body ever existed for the 'vette, it would be greatly appreciated), apparently, they got caught into some some kind of "Flying-Y" curve and the driver of the 'vette swerved over to my dad's lane at the same time dad slowed down - the result was that the 'vette was filleted by the MG-B dad was driving... Who's to say what really happened, but it makes for an interesting story to tell his son...

 

"Scaglietti Corvette" is aluminum. Can't imagine someone allowing it to get carved up in a road race, but maybe so. They only made 3.


Chevrolet Corvette Scaglietti Coupe

 

Now that I think back on that story, I think the 'vette dad raced had some kind of custom body built for racing. As the story went, the 2 cars were side-by-side until they got to the "Y", the 'vette swerved over so that it would be in the same branch of the "Y" as my dad but, it wound up slamming into the side of the MG-B. The bumper on the MG-B got hooked up on the lip of the front wheel well of the 'vette. At this point, 2 things happened: the 'vette sped up, and the MG-B slowed down. The way dad described it was that it reminded him of opening a sardine can - it peeled a strip of metal off the side of the 'vette that went from the front wheel, all the way back.

 

Hot rod =flathead up front & tools in the trunk
Street rod= 350 Chevy up front & polish & rags in the trunk