Body structure for a motor vehicle

The automobile roof structure has a windscreen frame (3), a roll-bar device (4) and a removable rigid roof panel (5) fitted over the region between the windscreen frame and the roll-bar device and shaped to match the convex curvature of the windscreen frame and convex and concave curvature sections of the roll-bar device. The roof panel is divided in the automobile longitudinal direction into 2 side sections (17,18) on opposite sides of a central section (19), projecting inwards relative to the passenger compartment between the side sections.