The football player was with the Eagles. His name was Brown and he picked up his ZR1 from a speed shop and promptly sped off and hit a pole at 100+mph. I don't think it was a convertible.
I'd love to see how Mercedes and the others engineer those ones that flip up...it's got to be hinged on just a couple of thick bolts, right? I supposed that hinge connects to the frame somehow? Time to google...
Ok here is something interesting I found:
"The 94 fatalities attributed to 87 convertibles that rolled over in 2004 accounted for fewer than 1 percent of about 10,000 U.S. rollover deaths last year."
I have an AutoPower bar in my 67 vert, I bought it from Mustangs Plus out of the PRK. AutoPower makes no claims as to this being a safety device, in fact they have disclaimers to that effect. They do say they are not "style bars" which means...not sure what that means. It is obvious that they are stronger than the light bars, and that I'd rather be in a rollover in my vert with one than without or with one than with a light-bar. Another major benefit is chassis rigidity, this is even more pronounced on the classic than the SN197 of course.
Regarding the cosmetics, it may look better in the 05 but I think it looks pretty bad on my 67. Of course it was not welded in for cosmetic purposes.
That's the same one I have in my 00 GT vert. I had an upholstery shop put foam padding and a marine grade vinyl cover to match the color of the interior. It looks quite nice, actually.
Maybe this is the perfect solution. And not too expensive, either, proabably OTD for less than $300.
It looks very beefy, with tubes that are just as thick as those in most rollbars and cages.