20 overlooked classic drop-tops

Open-tops living in the shadow of their hardtop siblings

Removing the roof from a car to make it a convertible is usually a sure-fire way to add cachet and up the price.

However, the history of the car has taught us that not every soft-top enjoys an elevated status over its fixed-roof counterpart.

Let’s give 20 sometimes perhaps unfairly overshadowed classic drop-tops their moment in the limelight.

1. Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster (1957)

Mercedes’ 300SL Roadster was not an alternative to the Gullwing coupé in period but a direct replacement, yet many will walk past the Roadster to ogle a Gullwing.

The rarity of the coupé is hardly an excuse for this as Mercedes only made 1858 Roadsters, on top of 1400 Gullwings, meaning the convertible is no commonplace classic.

Is the Roadster the easier car to live with? Quite possibly. But it will forever be in the shadow of those famous, dramatic, lift-up doors.

2. Peugeot 504 Cabriolet (1968)

The Peugeot 504 was an almost-perfect blend of French and Italian chic, so the Cabriolet should have been the open-top icing on the cake. Yet, the coupé outsold the Cabriolet by two to one.

Based on the rugged 504 saloon platform, the styling was by Pininfarina on a chassis shortened by 7.5 inches (191mm) from the saloon’s.

The later 2.7-litre V6 504 models were the first Peugeots to use the co-developed Peugeot-Renault-Volvo V6 engine.

3. Lotus Elan +2 (1972)

London dealer Hexagon was the first to create a convertible version of the Lotus Elan +2 and it made three in total.

Several more +2s have been turned into open-tops by keen amateurs, but far more successful in style and engineering are those converted by Christopher Neil Ltd to make the CN +2.

The CN +2 made a much better job of folding the hood around the Lotus’ rear suspension turrets and more than 50 cars were converted. Even then, convertible +2s are not as highly regarded as the factory coupé.

4. Triumph TR7 (1979)

The Harris Mann-penned TR7 coupé is one of the flag-bearers for wedge styling, but the convertible version is widely reckoned to be the better looking car.

However, the drop-top didn’t arrive until four years after the coupé and, by then, concerns over reliability and quality had surfaced.

As a result, the hardtop version is more numerous and seen by many as the purer expression of the original design.

5. Volkswagen Golf (1979)

As traditional roadsters were dying off, Volkswagen spotted an opportunity with the Golf Cabriolet. Take the style of the Golf GTI, add fresh air, and it should be a winner.

Sales of the Mk1 Golf Cabriolet notched up 400,871, so it succeeded in the showroom, but it’s always been viewed as the poorer relation to the GTI, even when sharing the same engine.

The last laugh lies with the Cabriolet, however, as it lasted in production until 1993 and was only usurped when VW launched a Mk3 Golf drop-top.

6. Reliant Scimitar GTC (1980)

Reliant should have cleaned up with the Scimitar GTC as its only real rival was the far more expensive Mercedes-Benz SL when it launched in 1980.

That year coincided with a recession, though, and sales never recovered from this blow.

Good to drive and capable of carrying four in comfort, the GTC also failed to capture buyers’ imaginations in the way the innovative GTE estate did.

7. Porsche 911 Cabriolet (1982)

Customer demand meant an open-air version of the Porsche 911 was inevitable and it arrived in 1982, almost 20 years after the firm’s previous cabrio on the 356 chassis.

Turning the 911 into a full convertible rather than the previous targa-topped models, Porsche did the work in-house based on the SC model.

The first 911 Cabriolet was only on sale for one year but found 4214 buyers, so the model was retained alongside the targa when the Carrera took over in 1983 – and the drop-top has been a permanent fixture ever since.

8. BMW 3 Series Baur Convertible (1983)

German coachbuilder Baur had worked with BMW since the 1960s on small convertible conversions, so continuing with the new E30 model launched in 1983 was a natural progression.

The Baur cabrio retained the saloon’s doors, but had smaller side rear windows and a rollbar similar in style to the earlier E21 model.

This car was offered as an official BMW option, even after BMW launched its own E30 3 Series Cabriolet in 1987. Baur made a total of 14,426 of this generation of drop-top, but it’s always played second fiddle to its saloon and full convertible relatives.

9. Citroën Visa Décapotable (1983)

Cottoning on to the resurgence in open-top cars, Citroën added to its 2CV with the Visa Décapotable that was noteworthy for having four doors.

The roof chop was carried out by Heuliez and all 2633 cars were built by the firm under contract to Citroën.

In keeping with its role as a halo model in the Visa range, Citroën only offered the Décapotable with the bigger 1.1-litre flat-four engine. However, a price similar to that of a Ford Escort Cabriolet kept sales to a trickle.

10. Ferrari Mondial (1983)

It was a big ask to turn the four-seat Ferrari Mondial into a convertible, but Pininfarina made a good job of it and managed to hide most of the hood inside the body.

Next to the sleeker lines of the coupé, the Mondial Cabriolet was always going to be the less favoured model, but it did manage 629 sales in a decade.

The Mondial Cabriolet is also notable for being the first ever mid-engined, four-seat production cabriolet.

11. Ford Escort Cabriolet (1983)

Ford turned to Karmann to create the Escort Cabriolet, based on the third generation of its long-running family favourite.

This was Ford of Europe’s first production convertible, having relied on coachbuilders in the past such as Crayford. The Escort was launched in Ghia and XR3i trims, but the Ghia was soon dropped as buyers preferred the sportier model with its 105bhp engine to the Ghia’s weedier motors.

The burgeoning hot-hatch sector still flocked to the three-door hardtop, not helped by the Cabriolet being based on the Escort Estate floorpan and its floppier handling traits.

12. Jaguar XJ-S/XJS drop-tops (1983)

Given this is the marque that brought the world the delectable E-type Roadster, that it took three attempts to get it right with the soft-top XJ-S/XJS might seem a surprise.

Another is that the first take, featuring targa-style, lift-out panels, arrived a full eight years after the launch of Jaguar’s XJ-S coupé – concerns over US legislation were to blame and resulted in a design with a rollbar that retained the coupé’s doors. It wasn’t the most gainly of convertibles.

The V12 XJ-S Cabriolet was added in 1985, but a full Convertible model replaced both in 1988 and was a much more elegant alternative to the coupé.

13. Peugeot 205CTI (1985)

There remains some discussion about who styled the Peugeot 205 hatch, but Pininfarina definitely took care of the convertible version, the CTI.

The Italian firm also part-built the 205 cabriolet, and its lower-powered CJ and CT versions, but some of the GTI hatch’s handling delicacy was lost with the addition of 200lbs (90kg) of body stiffening and roof mechanism.

14. Vauxhall Cavalier Convertible (1986)

A badge-engineered and right-hand-drive version of the Opel Ascona Cabriolet, the Vauxhall Cavalier Convertible was an unusual addition to the marque’s family-car range.

The conversion was carried out in Germany by Hammond & Thiede, who created a large box behind the rear seats to stow the bulky hood, but it also robbed boot space.

Only offered with the 115bhp 1.8-litre engine in the UK, the Cavalier Convertible attracted 1265 buyers, but plenty more were seduced by the SRi 130 saloon or hatch models.

15. Toyota Celica Cabriolet (1987)

The Toyota Celica Cabriolet was a bold experiment by the Japanese marque in collaboration with US firm American Sunroof Company.

Based on the svelte Celica coupé, the Cabriolet’s styling had a distinct whiff of an aftermarket conversion and there was insufficient strength put back into the body to counter considerable scuttle shake.

While US customers bought many of the 72,500 Celica Cabriolets sold, it was dropped after just 18 months, while its coupé stablemate carried on to notch up 1.98 million sales globally.

16. Mazda RX-7 Convertible (1988)

Mazda made a great job of turning its second-generation RX-7 coupé into a drop-top. It looked good, drove well, and even came with an electrically operated hood as standard.

The problem for the Convertible was Mazda then went and launched the MX-5, so fresh-air fanatics flocked to that instead. This left keen sporting drivers opting for the RX-7 coupé and its purer driving manners, especially when it gained 200bhp turbo power in 1988.

The RX-7 Convertible still deserves its place in Mazda history, though, for introducing the first-ever integrated wind buffer that extended from behind the rear seat to reduce buffeting in the cabin when the hood was lowered.

17. Alfa Romeo RZ (1992)

Alfa Romeo and Zagato challenged conventions with the SZ coupé, which gained a cult following for its performance and handling. They pushed this even further with the RZ convertible.

Maybe the skyscraper-tall rear deck needed to hide the folding fabric roof deterred buyers, but this Alfa roadster sold only 284 units compared to the coupé’s 1036.

A mere three colour choices were offered with the RZ: black, yellow or red. Unlike the coupé, red was the least popular hue.

18. Fiat Punto Cabriolet (1994)

From Bertone’s point of view, the Fiat Punto Cabriolet was a great success. It built 55,000 of these convertible superminis for Fiat between 1994 and 1999.

Set against the 3.3 million Puntos that Fiat produced of this first generation, the Cabriolet was a more qualified success.

Strangely, while the Punto was blessed with an electrically operated hood and front windows, the small rear quarter glass had to be manually wound down or up.

19. Volvo C70 Convertible (1997)

Volvo’s C70 Convertible was a runaway sales success, selling 47,000 cars to its coupé sibling’s 26,000. Yet the coupé remains the more sought-after.

An on-screen flirtation in the Val Kilmer film The Saint helped the hardtop’s appeal, but it was more the drop-top’s reputation for scuttle shake that held it back in the eyes of many.

This just means many miss out on a handsome Peter Horbury-styled soft-top with decent space for four.
 

20. Audi TT Roadster (1999)

Talk about a difficult act to follow. The original Audi TT Roadster arrived after a storm of praise for its coupé stablemate and its concept car looks.

Strictly a two-seater where the coupé made a nod to practicality with its rear bench, the Roadster enjoyed decent sales but never troubled the dynamics of the Mazda MX-5 or Porsche Boxster that bookended its position.

Perhaps accepting it was not an out-and-out sports car, Audi offered a lower powered 150bhp version of the 1.8-litre turbo engine with front-wheel drive only for the Roadster from 2003 until the model’s demise in 2006.