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MG TD TF 1500 - Another piece in the hard top manufacturer puzzle

This ad is from page 84 of the December 1967 issue of Car and Driver. It would appear that Astro Fiberglas Co. had some pretty big plans.

Dave Jorgensen

Nice looking top. Back when I was in Seattle and going to college in the 60's and had my 1954 TF I often thought how nice it would be to have a hardtop that was built with the exact shape of the original canvass one.

Dave
Dave Clark Arizona

Looks good on the TF.
J K Barter

If anybody wants to look for some more ads, I just happen to have a bunch of vintage Road & Tracks that you can get - http://www.ttalk.info/Tech/RoadandTrack.htm Bud
Bud Krueger

Nice work locating that ad, Dave. Now we can finally abandon the "Elvis" name and call it the Astro top.
JB

J K Barter

Google-ing around I found this picture of an Astro top for a Sunbeam Tiger. Looks like they followed through on some of their their big plans.

J K Barter

Mike Walsh identified it years ago as the Astro and its mentioned on the web page but its nice to have the confirmation via the ad. I will put this on the top page.

There is quite a bit of info on it at this page near the bottom.

http://www.mg-cars.org.uk/mgtd/mgtd_accessories_tonneaus.htm

The hardtop was manufactured by: Astro Fiberglas, 1535 Potrero Ave, South El Monte, California 91733. The pricelist I have is dated July 1, 1966 and says the TD / TF hardtop with side windows included costs $235.75. All tops are provided in neutral-gray finish. $19.95 extra for choice of lacquer colors. Furthermore, there is a paragrah describing the hardtop. Here it is from the brochure: "We guarantee the best materials available, including, aircraft-type, tinted acrylic, wrap-around, rear window for better vision. Headliner is made of a soft, polyurethane ( vinyl treated) for sound-proofing, and better insulation. A full rain-drip chrome, rail around windows, and windshield is standard. (All chrome and stainless-steel mounting hardware is attached to top for easy installation.)
Chris Couper

Please forgive the out-of-focus image, but that is a button on the head of the screw for the Plasicon rear bracket. Top word is Pasadena, bottom word is California.

Astro shows Azusa and South El Monte for addresses, about 15 miles apart. Pasadena completes a small triangle, approx 16 miles from Azusa and 13 miles from El Monte.

"Runyan Auto Upholstery was an upholstery shop located at 7966 Santa Monica Blvd, in Hollywood, California." (from Google) in the 1950s, about 15 miles from Pasadena. Looks like they did complete interiors for hot rods. "1941 Buick Club Coupe, restyled by Barris Kustoms for Var Martin... The interior was upholstered by Runyan interior." "1939 Ford Convertible originally owned and restyled by Arthur Lellis and his companion Jerry Mofatt of Art & Jerry Custom Shop in Los Angeles, California... The windshield was chopped three inches and fit with a padded top by Runyan of Hollywood. The top featured a custom panorama rear window made of flexible plastic material. The interior was upholstered in maroon and green leather and matching carpet was installed. There's an old ad floating around the internet, showing their tonneau covers.

Did Runyan start fabricating fiberglass tops or just commission some from a local manufacturer, Astro Fiberglass or Plasticon? Could it be Astro Fiberglass and Plasticon were the related? We may never know.

Our '50 TD with the Plasticon top came from California. The CA owner had a lot of parts chromed, the engine punched out to 1466 and 1 1/2" SUs added.



JIM NORTHRUP SR

Jim: Thanks for pointing out to everybody that the TD/TF industry revolved around California, with a few bones sent to NY (Arnolt) :-)
Chris Couper

If only someone who has one of these nice hardtops would make a mold from it.

Someone could go into production of hand laid fiberglass tops. There are a whole lot of folks, (well, at least me) who would be tickled to pay a fair price for a reasonable reproduction. Seems as though start up costs wouldn't have to be too scary.

If I had access to a top or mold, I'd even consider doing the lay-ups. Looking ahead a few months, it could be a nice part time add on to retirement.
Bob;
RwB Brown

Bob,
Put me on your list of customers when you go into business.
Mort
Mort Resnicoff (50 TD-Mobius)

This thread was discussed between 24/11/2013 and 26/11/2013

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