Can anyone tell me what a Berlinetta is...?

You forgot the Ferrari 575M Superamerica's top (an electrochromic glass panel roof invented by Fioravanti).

I think it is called a "retractable hardtop" or "rotary hardtop" or "flip-top roof".
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I'd put the SA in the "Convertible Hardtop" category.

All these terms are jumbled by the automakers. Some people will say a convertible where the top disappears under a hard tonneau cover counts as a roadster. Porsche has the Boxster Spyder, which is actually a barchetta/roadster. Is the Porsche Carerra GT a targa, or a roadster? With the roof off, there are only "roll bars" behind the cockpit. What about the F50? Is it a targa, or a barchetta with an Auxiliary Hardtop?

No one definition works, so we have a dozen words for "93,000,000 miles of headroom".

 

I used to have a Camaro Berlinetta many moons ago...and I believe it had a targa or t top also...POS though...

 

Yeah, to Chevrolet "berlinetta" meant "luxury"... haven't got a clue why...

 

I was told that Convertable is American, Roadster is British, Targa is German, and Spyder is Italian. All meaning the same thing.

 

Cabriolet

 

Are you asking or telling?

 

Lmao!

 

Germans sometimes call a full convertible a Cabrio or Cabriolet

Targa is reserved for a moveable or removeable center section with steel hoop behind, never a full convertible

Of course then there's Speedster which is usually a minimal windshield with little or no provisions for a top. I usually think of Speedster and Barchetta being similar.

 

In German wouldn't that be a full Targa????? Just joking.

 

I think the OP got more than he bargained for.

 

+1

Exactly.

 

Moonroof is glass.
Sunroof is metal (or non-transparent).
Size doesn't matter

 

Wasn't the C in the 330 GTC and 365GTC for "coupe"?

Interesting that Ferrari haven't used that nomeclature since (all GTC's subsequently are "competizione's")

 

One is spelled with a "y", and the other an "i". Duuurrrrrrrr.



As for what is means, I remember readings somewhere that is goes all the way back to the horse and buggy days. Something along the line of.......the buggies that had canopies which folded down were called spiders, because of how the spokes in the wheels looked, like a spiders web.

 

Yeah, and some "reliable" sources claim Sunroofs, Moonroofs, T-Tops and Targas are all "Sunroofs"...

As I've said before, all these terms are flexible.

 

Yeah, I almost pulled a retraction on my post, but those were the original meanings.
Sunroofs have since become uncommon so moonroofs get called sunroofs by pretty much everyone.

 

x 1mm.

It's an American English word: Spider phaeton, a small lithe coach.

"Spyder", being the German spelling, is an affectation I've heard attributed to Max Hoffman, for the Porsche 550 he was bringing into The States. Porsche still maintains the affectation.

 

And one is an Italian word with some history.

Simple guide:

Barchetta: 166 Touring, et sec., 550 Pininfarina Barchetta
Spider: 250 GT California, 365 GTB/4 Spider
Cabriolet: 250 GT Pinin Farina, 365 California
Cartastrophe: Cali 2+

A Barchetta won't have a retractable roof.
Ostensibly a spider won't have a power roof, nor electric windows and A/C.
Now you can't even get a Miata without them.
The Daytona gets a pass for its manual roof and sporting nature.

 

Other things you can't leave out:
hardtop convertible- a pillerless hardtop
Surrey Top- a removeable softtop with no sides, ala' Fiat Jolly or VW Thing Acapulco
Roadsters- two seat softtops where the top is hidden when stowed or removed.

 

For instance, a Ferrari "Spyder" would be consistent with a 'covered coupe' meaning the convertible top is to keep the same shape and profile of the regular hardtop coupe. Also, the cloth top is to be left exposed over the rear of the car when it is opened.

A "Barchetta" (meaning 'small boat' in Italian) will have no resemblance to a coupe version, and the cloth top is to be removed and concealed within the rear body of the car.

Although nowadays, Ferrari nomenclature does not really reflect the true identity of a cars construction...the 355 Spyder had a "Spyder" name + "Spyder" construction, (exposed cloth top when opened). However, the 360 and 430 Spyder both had the "Spyder" name, but its removeable top was then opened and concealed within the rear of the car between the engine and seats. This was actually a "Barchetta" design, but Ferrari disregarded this, and continued on by calling them Spyders.

 

The C in a 330 GTC could also be for 'corte', or short, as opposed to the 330 GT 2+2.

A roadster or barchetta is a car intended to be open, with basic provision for closed use.

Jaguar built XL's (1950's, not modern) as OTS (open tw0 seater, the roadster), DHC (Drop Head Coupe) and FHC (Fiexed Head Coupe)

Coupe btw is not Canadian, but French for 'cut' The funniest thing in the US version of English is the way you people talk about a Coupe de Ville. Coop de vil.

 

You are right about how we pronounce the i but I have never heard any Italian reading spider with the Italian "i".
Everyone reads it as spyder.

 

Yes, but no.

When dealing with Italian mechanics and dealers, in my experience usage does not correspond to definition.

For an Italian, a Berlinetta is (historically) indeed a small two seater, but it has to be a car with a clear vocation and capability to race and compete. 212 Export, 250 TdF, 250 SWB, 250 GTO, 275 GTB are all Berlinettas.

A Coupe refers to a car of the same basic characteristics, but with GT comforts and not made for racing: 212 Inter, 250 PF, 330 GTC, etc...

When I once asked a dealer in Turin what category they would consider appropriate for a Dino, the answer was interesting: They told me it was a Coupé designed to look like a Berlinetta.