Well as you know I own PDG the one known as the ‘Penzance’ convertible. One of the first comments I received after restoring PDG was that it is likened to a baby Ford Mustang. Looking at a slab sided view of the car you can see what he meant. The HB Viva is a pretty car to start with so hacking off the roof had to do it justice and I think it does. The shape of the hood flows with the cars lines so enhances it, unlike all the Fords converted. I think it is the prettiest Crayford conversion.

I am constantly searching for information on any Crayford HB so to fill in the many gaps with the above cars. There are ‘hear-say’ reports on other Crayfords, but nothing has ever been confirmed.
1. Pale blue SL90 owned by the wife of Wallace Arnold?
2. Red SL90 owned by a lady in Scotland?
3. Someone said they had seen the Brabham HB Crayford in a petrol garage forecourt, but no pictures as the owner refused?

Homemade HB Convertibles
There have been a few over the years, popping up, but the sheer scale of the job shouldn’t be taken lightly, even if the finished job isn’t as good as a genuine Crayford.
The infamous ‘Pink’ Viva GT from Brighton was turned into a convertible using the basic strengthening as per Crayford, but used a chopped up Triumph Stag hood. This appeared in 96 with a deep blue paint job, but got the nick name of ‘The Pram’ due to its hood sitting on the rear deck as per convertible, rather than cabriolet.
I have seen a 4 door HB convertible, but I doubt this lasted more than the journey home as 4 doors are never used as a base for a convertibles.
The most striking of all the made up HB convertibles is the red one with the FWD Astra engine. The engineering of this car is superb and makes the MKIII Escort hood fit like a dream. There are many touches the builder did to improve the basic Crayford strengthening design. Having the standard Escort roll over bar does give the shell a better start in life. The car doesn’t exhibit any of the scuttle shakes of the Crayford according to the owner. There is no movement felt on the windscreen pillar either due to extra strengthening bars.

Guy