Is this convertible country, or what?

I’ve been a “rag-top” fan for almost thirty years now, in fact, my very second car at the tender age of 16 back in NY was a 1965 moss green Buick Special convertible with one of the very first V6 engines ever made by GM, and although we only enjoyed about 3 and a half months of summer or ‘convertible weather’, I used to drive myself to high school during most fall, winter and spring cold sunny days with the top down whether it was 62º or 32º degrees Fahrenheit outside, but then again when you are 16 almost nothing gets in your way, specially a little cold weather.

Many years later I moved to South Florida and realized that a convertible here is a “vacilon”, or like we used to say in my days, “heavy” or “groovy”, and although convertible sales are not restricted to warm weather climates, they are popular throughout the country, including larger DMAs. However, when we look at retail convertible registrations as a percentage of overall passenger car sales, warmer climate markets come to the top of the list, and with more than 30 models of rag tops for sale in the states to choose from, there is almost a convertible for every type of consumer, from the new VW Beetle starting with a retail price of around $20K to the awesome Mercedes SL500 around $100K, or the ultimate Bentley Azure with a price tag of around $375,000.

Some models have the well-known ‘rag-top’ or the ’soft-top’ such as the VW Beetle which still use the fabric or canvas top, or the convenience and security of a retractable hardtop like the Mercedes SL500 or the Lexus SC430 which gives you the best of both worlds, open-air fun and the protection of a hardtop, specially after convertibles became a non-favorable item in the early 1970 after many issues with safety matters, but thanks to modern technology and all the advancement the automotive industry has done, the new convertibles incorporate many safety features never before seen.

Even today, some of the ‘rag-top’ models do have a manually operated roof like the Mazda Miata, yet others require you to manually release 2 latches somewhere near the top of the windshield and then press or pull a lever for the top to power lower automatically. However, some of the convertible models do have a “boot” that very elegantly and automatically covers the folded top while others requires you or your invited passengers to install and remove the “boot” manually over the folded top by. A few models though, like the new Ford T-Bird, gives you the option of a removable hardtop but you must store this top in your house or garage while not being used.

When it comes to safety features, all of today’s convertibles do come with safety belts and frontal airbags, and many do incorporate frontal crush zones and the side impact beams. A few however, do offer a self-deploying roll bar design to protect us during rollover crashes, while others offer side airbags mounted on the doors; These bags inflate large enough to provide the protection needed for both head and torax.

As far as sizes are concern, there is almost the right size for everyone. The smallest convertibles available on the market, in overall size, is a toss between the Mazda Miata and the Toyota MR2, each being powered by four-cylinder engines, they both have two seats only, and their top is the fabric type. Though there are many choices when it comes to power plants, some do offer very powerful engines that make this whole experience even sweeter. For example the Honda S2000 with a mere 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine but generating a surprising 240 horsepower for a quick and nimble machine.

For an even more exciting experience, try the Audi’s TT convertibles with a turbocharged 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine putting out 225 horses. However, there are many convertibles like Ferrari, Corvette, Jaguar or others offering big V8 power plants thus making the driving dynamics and experience a memorable one, whether you drive them with an automatic or manual transmission.
Here is Let’sTalkCars list of the top 10 convertibles available in America test driven by us during the last 3 months throughout the beautiful roads of South Florida and The Keys, and after close to 5,000 miles between these top 10 vehicles, I can only tell you that South Florida is without any doubt, “Rag-Top” country!

Mercedes Benz SL 500 Ford ThunderBird
Lexus SC430 Audi A4 Cabriolet
Honda S2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse
Ford Mustang Chevrolet Corvette
VW Beetle Toyota MR2 Spyder
Mazda Miata Jaguar XK

OK, you’re right! There are 12 convertibles in our list and although it’s not in order of preference, we could not settle for 10 vehicles, so here are the top 12 convertibles in North America.