alfred,
the corner bow passes thru a canvas sleeve on the inside of the soft top.
i guess it's possilble that this is a replacement frame. the car is euro spec, built for the non-german euro market.
purchased by the PO in belgium; according to him he shipped it to the states, then back to belgium, then finally took it to colorado.
i know he replaced the engine with a 129 in the early 80s, had the car repainted at that time, so it's possible the soft topframe is "new" also.
is there any way to determine that? would the soft top frame be numbered?