[rocketraider]

Not to mention slapping a vinyl roof cover on a car was often cheaper than metal finishing the roof-to-quarter seam. They usually already had the division mouldings in place for painted roof cars, so they could get away with: less finishing work and less paint on the roof panel. Which explains why so many cars rusted under their vinyl tops. Y'all ever noticed you can often see the roof-to-quarter seam under the VT? whereas you wouldn't see it on a painted roof car?

Biggest reason was it was an extra-cost styling gimmick, meaning the public ate it up.

GM would put a vinyl top on anything back then too- even on cars that were clearly never meant to have one. I think the most ridiculous VT offerings were station wagons and some high-line pickup trucks. GM styling made sure that most cars could wear a vinyl top though, making rooflines and sculpture lines "work" for VT jobs.

Even GM couldn't hold a candle to Chrysler with their "Mod Tops". Paisley and psychedelic printed vinyl tops. We had a neighbor when I was a kid, who owned a Plymouth Fury Gran Coupe. Car was copper brown with a matching Mod Top, and the damn thing always looked like a copperhead snake to me.