57 Coupe with overrider bars

[John Wurner]

A friend has this 57 bee hive Coupe with overrider bars front and rear.
Is that the correct set up or were they added later?
My bet is on the later part.
John

[Spencer Harris]

A friend has this 57 bee hive Coupe with overrider bars front and rear.
Is that the correct set up or were they added later?
My bet is on the later part.
John

Call your bookie, quick and hope he hasn't placed the bet.

T-1 cars had overrider bars starting with chassis no. 58312 cpe, 61500 cab and 82851 spdstr.
Brett Johnson says the rear bars changed to two-piece bars with late T-1 cars in March '57. Bob Chase told me in 2015 that late T-1 cars still the single rear bar.
(I've attached my Excel spreadsheet in case you can't read the JPG attachment.)

This great looking coupe looks correct to me. What is the chassis no. of your friend's car?

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T1 OR Bars.xlsx

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[Spencer Harris]

Some additional notes I made regarding the '57 model which are essentially included in the spreadsheet...

There were three different chassis styles of ’57 cars with the following distinguishing features:

1) Early T1 (cabriolet) nos. 61500-61700 – Beehive taillights, shine-down license light, one-piece rear overrider tubes and no exhaust through the bumper guards.

2) Late T1, from March ‘57 (cabriolet) nos. 61701-61892 – Teardrop taillights, shine-up license light, two-piece rear overrider tubes and no exhaust through the bumper guards.  (Dr. Johnson states that the two-piece rear tube appeared “a bit after the taillight and license light configuration was altered”).

3) T2, from September ’57 (cabriolet) nos. 150001-150149 – Teardrop taillights, shine-up license light, two-piece rear overrider tubes and exhaust through the bumper guards.

(Where it says Late T1 it will still be a long bar.......not the two-piece tubes. Bob 9/5/15)

[John Wurner]

VIN is 58863, so according to the chart it would have overriders.
There are no holes for the support tubes, were they added later?

[Spencer Harris]

VIN is 58863, so according to the chart it would have overriders.
There are no holes for the support tubes, were they added later?

I didn't notice that. It's anybody's guess at this point. Euro delivery car retrofitted with overrider bars after the car was shipped to USA, replacement nose and rear clips, etc. The overrider bars look pristine compared to the rear bumper guards, so perhaps they were added later and the support tubes were never installed.
He should be able to locate the mounting shackles behind the nose and tail pieces.

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The '58 Workshop Supplement manual offers step by step instructions for subsequent mounting of overrider tubes.

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[Cliff Murray]

I am the third owner of my Speedster 83405. I have spoken to both previous owners regarding original details. This pictures show the car as it left the factory and there was a black Speedster at the Williamsburg ECH a couple of numbers away that was the same configuration.

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[John Wurner]

Thanks, Cliff. Great car, incidentally.
I think Spencer hit it right on, since the car does not and never had the body holes as yours has,
its probably an import after Euro delivery.
I will try for a KARDEX soon.
John

[Spencer Harris]

John, I hope that's the answer. Great look - shine-down, beehives and long bar. Odd that a dealer or independent shop would go to the effort to change the bumper guards, drill the bumpers and install the bars without installing the support tubes. I used the step by step manual instructions to locate and drill holes in the new nose and tail panels on my '58 cab, and confirmed the dimensions against Bob's unrestored '58 coupe. (PDF of the supplement section attached below.)


Cliff's gorgeous Speedster fits the data I have for late T-1: long bar; teardrops and shine-up (from chassis no. 83201).

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58 Supplement Overrider Install.pdf

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[Cliff Murray]

Thanks guys. I actually like the tubes even though they are an unnecessary adornment. Calling them functional is a bit of a stretch. On a Speedster I especially like them because the faithful can tell at a glance that the car is very likely real, not Tupperware.

Too bad that Bob is no longer with us, sad. He did a wonderful job on my 59 Sunroof.

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[Dick Roth]

That is a beautiful Blue sunroof coupe you've got there, Cliff.
You're right about those overrider bars being an unnecessary adornment. It's my opinion that they have always detracted from the basic original shape (formensprache), since I first saw them about 1957. Although I always understood the rationale for adding them to the American imports, I always was jealous of the Germans and Europeans who did not have this add-on visited upon them.