The one you pictured is a slight variation on a common design back then. Very simple and compact (easier to ship than some other 1-piece styles) but with the slight crown to the main hoop similar to the Stroppe bars. Very cool.
This bar has some good and bad features. The kickers are straight, which is considered stronger in some "activities" that need a good roll bar. But they are also not very spread out. Sometimes it's an advantage to have a wider footprint overall. More protection for the rear passengers (such as it is) and possibly more rollover strength.
But the fact that the other one with the straight kickers has them mounting to the wheel well, is a strong point as well. Just that spreading the load farther might still have some advantages.
Might check with some racing sanctioning body rules to see if they lay that out in print and say yay or nay regarding one being stronger than the other.
Or maybe one of the engineer types here can tell us.
But the crown on the main hoop is one of my favorite features. With a little less pronounced crown than some desert designs, and other than pure aesthetics it's supposed to make it easier to roll the vehicle back on to it's wheels.
That little bit of crown does not look like it would be much help in that area, but it might be. Assuming the hard top is not installed that is.
Paul
