Cordova Top 1969 TA

[wapiti471]

I am rebuilding a 1969 Firebird TA with a Cordova top. The Cordova comes down to the rain gutters on the roof or does it come down as the Camaro 1" above? 2 questions how many 1969 Pontiac TA's were made with the Cordova Tops?

[Larry]

Never realized they called the vinyl top "Cordova." Guess PMD was ahead of Ricardo Montalban hawking the new Chrysler later.

A search of photos shows no Firebirds with the Camaro type of top. All are full coverage, even in Firebird reference books. That doesn't mean that some weren't short-sheeted, but we can't find any nor have ever seen any.

As reference, this Cordova vinyl top was option number: SVT/G08 and cost $89.52. It came in only black, ivory, and creme colors.

Interestingly, National Parts Depot sells the SVT/G08 top (https://www.npdlink.com/product/restoration-quality-double-seam-vinyl-top-black-levant-grain/122752) and lists it for Firebird and Camaro but for the Camaro states: "1969-1969 CAMARO OPTION CODE C08, REQS TRIMMING THE PILLAR AREA OFF". That might tell you that it was a Camaro-only deal with the less than full coverage.

As for quantity with these tops, PMD kept lousy records. Perhaps Pontiac Historic Services might know.

[wapiti471]

The Firebird TA 1969 I am building with the Cordova Top. Does the Blue stripe
on the rear of the car go under the Cordova top? I can't find any examples. Looking for help

[Larry]

The fact that you have a vinyl top going on here, we're assuming this is a T/A clone-- but with the vinyl top. I have never seen a real T/A with a vinyl top, nor can I find any reference to one on a T/A. If one ever went out the door with a vinyl top, I guess it also had no top stripes.

That being said... does it go under the vinyl top should really make no difference to authenticity as it's probably not a real factory item anyway. Do you have a build sheet showing a real T/A WITH a vinyl top? If so... quite interesting.

If you have a vinyl top, I would assume you would want to stop the stripes on the rear right up to the top trim like on a non-vinyl top car. There is a border line around the "main" blue that you would probably want to keep at the top.

We would love to see any documentation of a real '69 T/A with a vinyl top. If this is in fact a real numbers T/A and the vinyl top is real also, you should probably seek out professionals who deal specifically with these cars. It would be too rare to mess up doing wrongly.