Mercedes-Benz has four convertibles now. As does Audi, with a fifth in a new R8 Spyder not far off. BMW has five ‘verts you can buy. And if you count the various configurations of Porsches from which you can choose, the German sportscar maker has nine — nine! — convertibles. (Heck, there are seven different versions of the 911 now with large sections of roof missing!)
But the story was quite different in 1982.
Back then, if you wanted a go-to topless, you had three options.
The first was the Mercedes-Benz SL, and within that you had only one option – the 380SL. It wasn’t cheap, nor was it particularly sporty thanks to its boat anchor 155-horsepower V8.
Those who enjoyed some speed in their lives could opt for the then-new ’83 Porsche 911 Cabriolet. However, like the SL, the 911 didn’t rank highly on the affordability scale.
And your budget was more modest, there was one last option: the Volkswagen Rabbit Convertible. It’s hard to conceptualize, but the A1-platform Rabbit was already quite old in 1983. Though chopping off the Rabbit’s top gave it a new lease on life (further extended for another nine seasons by way of a Prince-esque name change to just “Cabriolet” in 1985), its quality was unsurprisingly nowhere near that of the Mercedes or Porsche.
The result of this dearth of topless options was an explosion of companies ripping the tops off quite expensive cars.
Few folks had the funds to pull this off, as at times the cost of the conversion would double or triple the base price of the car. You’ve probably never heard of most of them. Companies like Coach Builders Ltd., R. Straman Company, and Carelli Autoworks catered to the rich and famous — taking Porsche 928s and Mercedes-Benz 500SELs and creating custom convertibles. If you’re a BMW fan, you’ve likely heard of the company Baur, famous for its targa-convertible 3 Series and even an occasional 6 Series. Maybe you like the Back to the Future trilogy, and fondly remember the inexplicably old-yet-new rat-rod flying drop-top 633CSi.
But you almost certainly haven’t heard of MGA, and you likely don’t know about the Observer Coupé.
Though MGA isn’t particularly well known, its styling is famous to fans of British cars. MGA, short for Mike Gibbs Associates, was contracted by Bentley to design the exterior of the Turbo R sedan among other projects. But Gibb’s interests weren’t limited to the Crewe company.
In 1982, the company’s namesake sought to expand into the lucrative custom coachbuilt convertible market. One of his partners for this made a fair amount of sense: BMW Great Britain handed MGA the keys to a brand-new 1982 BMW 635CSi, a model which had just gone through a mid-cycle refresh. However, the third-party was perhaps a little less expected: The Observer, a periodical that had been around since 1791.
Waning popularity and new ownership in 1981 meant The Observer was looking for new readership to revitalize its brand. The result would be shown first in 1983 at the Birmingham NEC Motorshow. Called The Observer Coupé, it would be anything but a traditional convertible.
In place of a typical folding soft top, like those employed by … well, everyone, Gibb’s MGA instead opted to construct a very complicated electric sliding glass roof section similar to recent Porsche Targa models.
Internally dubbed “Project M3,” MGA’s team hacked — literally, if you watch the video — the standard roof section off what was $100,000 worth of the nicest BMW you could buy. The company created its own lightly sculpted front and rear valances, but more notable was the several inches of buildup on the trunk lid to incorporate the sliding roof mechanism. That lid was custom molded, then hammered by hand at MGA. Normal trunk storage was retained because the roof mechanism sat on top of the factory truck liner. Once the body modifications were complete, the once-bright red 635 was painted a much more subdued two-tone gray/silver combination. Under the hood, the original paintwork still peeks through the respray on the strut towers. A set of 16-inch Type 7 wheels were sourced from Centra to help the car stand out a bit.
The Observer Coupé then toured the country as a promotional tool before it was largely forgotten. Gibbs apparently attempted to promote his company with it and even produced sales brochures for a serial run of the car — which never materialized.
After languishing partially broken for some time, the Observer Coupé resurfaced a few years ago at its current location. 4Star Classics restored the car to near original specification and it looks pretty spectacular. It’s been for sale for some time, with varying prices, and now sits at £29,995. Thanks to Brexit, the relatively weak Pound translates to just shy of $40,000. With only 18,000 miles reported on the chassis, it’s likely one of the least traveled E24s in the world, and it’s in a condition that matches the mileage. While some aspects of the conversion aren’t as polished as a factory job, it looks remarkably finished and tastefully done for a show car.
For the discerning BMW enthusiast who really wants to stand apart from the crowd, this one-off 635CSi targa is an interesting — if esoteric — bit of the company’s history.
[Images: 4Star Classics]
Remember when you could get a H-body Bonneville with very similar wheels?
Pepperidge Farm.
I do, we had one. 1988 Bonneville SE. With steering wheel radio controls, sunroof, and floor shifter.
Cool. I has one too until November 2014.
oi66.tinypic.com/imqb6p.jpg
oi64.tinypic.com/2w6f2uw.jpg
Not too far off from the stock wheels that were on my Fiero.
Those wheels… I thought those might be the most dated part of the car, but at least they’re cool. “The Observer” decals? Those are truly horrible. I mean, they couldn’t even be bother to put them in tasteful locations. The one above the bumper should be below the spoiler. The one along the bottom edge doesn’t even follow the line of the ground effects. It’s across the crease. I would call it a bad Photoshop if I saw this photo without context.
I need – I NEED those wheels. Imagine them on a Saab 900 or 9000 post-refresh model. Also imagine them on a white 1990 Trofeo. I can also see them on a dark red Previa SC.
Love stories like this about oddball stuff like Chris Tonn used to do. The PLC + roof foldy bit reminds me of that Chaser Aerocabin as well.
But this is the same price as those, but way more rare. And better wheels.
Soarer. Chaser was a sporty Mark II.
I bet those wheels are metric.
Right you are. I’ll leave my error there for posterity.
They’re 16″, the original wheels were 390mm TRX though.
But the 9000 Aero three spokes are way nicer than these.
Nonsense! Deep dish one-off slats FTW.
Those are the kind of wheels you cook a pizza on.
I thought they were Saab wheels.
I respectfully dissent.
Maybe it’s because I grew up at the time when wheels like this were everywhere, but I don’t see them as Saab-ish. The real Saab wheels were far better done. These look more like what every Max Headroom wanna-be was putting on his E30, or, if he lacked the funds for an E30, his Celica or Prelude. To me they give the car a whiff of bad taste.
I think it’s like the gold badges thing, I largely missed it so I like it today. The aero-gen smooth cars revelation was happening when I was learning to walk.
I don’t even know what Max Headroom is…
I should say, though, that I’m basing my opinion on how they looked in the late ’80s, and I expect they looked far more avant-garde in 1981 (when I was five).
That’s right, because in 1981 a lot of people were driving around in pieces of sh*t like this.
https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/09/XXXFair.png
And you pull up in something MGA-like!
Oh dear.
Sorry Corey, you’re expelled from ’80s car fandom. You have to go listen to Oasis in your jellybean Contour.
What a great place to have a bit of Champagne Supernova.
I presumed ther SAAB reference was to the 99 Turbo “Inka” wheels:
http://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hmn/2009/10/Turbo-Towers/2128121.html
There was also a Mustang Fox body that has similar factory wheels (http://www.mustangspecs.com/specialty/79pace.shtml) and the Centras Type 7s here were a factory Votex catalog option for Audi/Volkswagen products in the mid-1980s:
http://forums.quattroworld.com/4000/threads/5299.phtml
They *nailed it* in silhouette.
Canadians won’t be able to discuss this car very easily.
“So what did you buy?”
“I got an emm gee eh.”
“Oh, is it a MGB?”
“No, an emm gee eh!”
“One of the GT models then?”
“NO! Eh!”
Take off, you hoser.
The Observer sounds like a newspaper, and the way it is printed on the side and rear makes it look like it’s used to deliver papers across town to houses the delivery boy missed in the morning. Beautiful car otherwise. The profile is sleek and low and full of glass in a way that will never, ever happen again and the classically 1980s Saab-esque wheels look better than I would have thought. Well, the off-center tailpipe hanging down like a bad aftermarket job isn’t great.
Better than calling it the “Lurker,” I suppose. Funny, I’m a huge (YUGE) Bimmer fan and don’t recall this one-off.
“However, the third-party was perhaps a little less expected: The Observer, a periodical that had been around since 1791.”
You have literally got to read the full article.
Uh oh, I made the cardinal error I hoped I wouldn’t make but did anyway because I was skimming. I saw BMW, I saw MGA, I wasn’t looking for a third party after that.
Off with your head!
Just what will Maddie Hayes have to say about this??
It pains me to say that I get that reference :)
BMW currently has three convertibles, the 2-series, 4-series, and 6-series. The Z4 has ended production.
In ’82 you could also still buy the Alfa Romeo Spider, Fiat X1/9, the Mustang Convertible, Renault Alliance Convertible, sundry Chrysler K-car based convertibles, and the Buick Riviera convertible just off the top of my head. In Europe there was a slew of low production specialty cars from the likes of TVR as well.
This BMW is a waste of a shark. There are some very pretty coachbuilt proper E24 convertibles out there, but I have no idea who did them.
There was also a Celica convertible, and Prelude. Datsun had a 200SX convertible.
All ASC conversions, IIRC. Manufacturers didn’t get back into in-house convertibles until the mid-80s, once they realized there was a steady market for them.
I know the Celica was at least for sure, as I saw the Motorweek review and they mentioned it.
I think I’d be bearish on aftermarket convertible quality in the early ’80s.
BMW currently separates the M lineup and normal series lineup, which makes sense given their price difference. Therefore, they have a 2, 4 and 6 series vert, plus a M4 and M6. That’s where 5 comes from. Technically, they have 14 variants that are convertible.
So…
1) Take an E24, which exists only to be pretty.
2) Make it much less pretty, without even giving it real convertible functionality.
3) ???
4) Profit!
Also – author bio is absent Maaaaark. As well as real name?
I believe those are Vestatec wheels
I’m almost positive they’re Centra Type 7s.
http://forums.fourtitude.com/showthread.php?7208768-Wtb-Centra-type-7-center-caps#/topics/7208768?_k=i7iffq
They’re identical to the Centras offered on Audis as a dealer option in the mid 1980s
Never heard of them, but that looks like a special edition first series 6. Rare and likely never exported. But it could be a lovingly built modern knockoff. Don’t know how the 3 series reference fits in. Solid wheels are under rated IMO. Want those for my winters.
@Brett Woods,
The “M3” reference was the project code for this one-off. It predated BMW’s use of the designation. Also, this is the car that was built in 1982, not a modern knock-off. There was only one made, so you’re correct that it was never exported from England, where it remains for sale today. Hope you’re able to source some Centras – they do come up for sale from time to time if you look out for them!
No, no, no, no….a million times NO!!!!!!
That 6-series had one of the prettiest, most elegant rooflines in all of motoring. You do NOT hack into it!!!
It’s like doing collagen implants on Marilyn Monroe. NO!!!!
(Like the wheels, though…)
A roofline so pretty Ford directly knocked it off for the 1989 Thunderbird.
That takes the worst design elements from the 80s and puts them all in one spot. The wheels are atrocious, I do remember that pontiac and several others had similar looking wheels at the time. The rest of the car looks like a cheesy kit car from that era. Im actually disappointed that they took what is a classic design and made it so ugly. I think that when I have extra money I want to find an old 6 series from that era as a weekend car.