not Webasto sunroof???

[martinsmith]

so I attach a few shots of my Webasto (?) sunroof which was installed before I bought the '75Tii in '85 in the UK but am told it is NOT a Webasto... does anyone know what it is?

[2002Scoob]

gawd I love sliding rag-tops. Someday I'll say 'eff it to the resale value of my car and put one in for pure open top enjoyment. Or get a 2cV for the same price. 

[1972_Targa]

Or buy a Targa...

[02Les]

According to MGGT people, there were three folding sunroof manufacturers in the UK; Webasto, Britax & Slideaway.

I have no clue what you have. Amazing that there isn't a manufacturer plate on it somewhere.

[martinsmith]

no nothing anywhere... we are opening it to fix the handle that stopped working a while ago...

before that worked a charm since I bought the car 33 years ago...

[jgerock]

I've only heard of Webasto and Britax- mainly from the VW era.

[SydneyTii]

Man that's lovely I miss my sunroof, I know they are not popular in some circles and ive seen some cars with bad cracks in the corners of the openings...... but they look lovely!

I miss spring in the UK, Webasto open and flying down a country lane....... too bloody hot here you'd get a sunburnt head!

I wonder how much they are to get fitted now days?

[SydneyTii]

oh no they are here!

https://www.webasto.com/au/markets-products/car/retrofit-roof-systems-for-end-customers-and-car-dealers/our-sunroofs-in-australia/folding-roof/

[martinsmith]

did have a crack back in the late 80s that got spot welded... all good now...

when we take the handle apart I'm hoping to find something that will tell us what sunroof this is...

still interested anyone in the UK that might know?...

[NickVyse]

Can't help you - I was just attracted to the heading "not a webasto" :-)

 

You should ask on the UK forum. 

[Guest Steve E]

Hi, Dave (Webasto/Britax specialist from MGExp site) has asked me to comment. Given age of car/installation and your USA location this is definitely a roof that pre dates any legislation (late 70's early 80's era introduced many controls) and certainly not allow one like this with the protruding handle with sharp corners. I suspect it is a very early SKYTOP who were big suppliers in USA for 'dealer fit' in this period of folding ragtops. There were also names like Hollandia and Golde who produced similar roofs for worldwide distribution in the same period but here in UK it was as someone else has stated dominated with Webasto, Britax and Slideaway. There is some similarity in the aluminium extrusion to some later SKYTOPS I have seen yet the plastic corners is something I really only saw introduced much much later. SKYTOP went out of business years ago though.

[NickVyse]

Steve E - you missed the salient info that the car was bought in the UK. The plot thickens

[Guest Steve E]

BTW SKYTOP was a USA company

[Guest Steve E]

Thanks Nick I did not read all the posts just picked up on what Dave had asked.

 

We were bringing over a lot of sunroofs from USA like the old SKYPORT poptop so anyone may have got hold of this as a trial for fitment back then. It definitely is not something I ever saw before and I knew of virtually all the competition back then in the UK sunroof market.

 

The car originally could have been bought by a US military service person assigned to UK and they arranged for the roof to be brought over to UK as the roofs were a lot cheaper to buy in USA as a kit.

 

However I would also look at early old vintage Hollandia and Golde products.

 

I know Baur in Germany did the early full drop down convertible for BMW which followed shortly after but I don't think they ever did folding ragtops

[Guest Steve E]

Just another avenue to pursue. If the current owner knows what the original UK registration was I would be able to identify what area of the UK the car was supplied. From this I may be able to identify the likely Sunroof Centre who fitted it and what products they used. I knew most of the UK's fitting centres back then as I produced technical manuals for most car installations whether UK or foreign models identifying roof structure pitfalls for exact positioning and how and where to refit/rewire interior lights, or harnesses etc etc. Very few car dealers actually installed the roofs on site and generally the cars were shipped out to specialist. Pre the glass poptop boom where even the milkmen were fitting those, there actually was not a lot of specialised fitting centres as the UK as manufacturers were only prepared to allow their products to be installed after stringent training and approval as an official agent.