Fiat 124 Spider – discontinued in 2020
Much digital hand-wringing has taken place here at Curbside over the seemingly inevitable demise of the sedan and station wagon body styles. Regardless of your opinion on this, as enthusiasts we should be concerned about some of the collateral damage of the Carpocalypse: The demise of the convertible, a body style near and dear to my heart. So are we headed for another convertible dark age, a repeat of what happened in the late ’70s and early ’80s?
Let me clarify by saying that I am mostly referring to affordable convertibles disappearing (less than $50K for the purposes of this analysis). If you are willing to spend high five figures or more for a car, there are lots of manufacturers from Porsche to Jaguar to Bentley to Ferarri that will likely always have a convertible model on offer for you. But if you are looking for offerings affordable by mere mortals, the pickings are starting to get slim. I’ve tried to track down every reasonably-priced convertible model still for sale in the US, and here are my findings, in no particular order.
Mercedes-Benz
If you go to their website, Mercedes’ cupboard appears to be overflowing with dropheads. Six different convertible models, way more than any other manufacturer! Three roadsters (SLC, SL, and AMG GT), along with soft-top versions of the C, E, and S-Class coupes. However, looks can be deceiving: Upon closer examination, you will see that all is not well with open-air motoring in the land of the three-pointed star, especially on the lower end of the price range.
2020 Mercedes-Benz SLC Final Edition
For starters, the SLC Roadster (Mercedes’ most affordable convertible model, and the only model starting at under $50K) actually went out of production last year, so dealers are selling down what few 2020 models remain on the ground. Ditto for the S-Class cabrio: The seventh-generation W223 S-Class will be sold as a four-door sedan only. The next-generation 2022 C-Class has only been shown in four-door sedan form – no coupe or convertible has been announced (nor have any been spied in pre-production form). So within the next 12-months, the Mercedes drop-top lineup will be limited to the E-Class, SL, and AMG GT, the cheapest of which (the E-Class) starts at over $70,000.
That said, it is a safe bet that Mercedes will always have some sort of convertible for sale, even if it not particularly affordable. Recall that the SL Roadster was one of the few convertibles that remained in production during the last convertible dark age, even after all American automakers stopped making convertibles in the 1970s.
BMW
BMW Z4 Roadster
BMW, like Mercedes, is also rationalizing their convertible lineup. As production of the F22 2-series winds down, it appears that the 2-series convertible (BMW’s most affordable convertible) has already disappeared from their website. The next-generation 2-series, expected next year, will not have a convertible model. On the upper end of the lineup, the hybrid-electric i8 Spyder disappeared last year, but no one really bought those.
2021 BMW 4-series convertible
This leaves BMW with three remaining convertible models, still more than most other manufacturers: The third-generation Z4 Roadster (platform-mate of the Toyota Supra) launched in 2018, with a starting price of $49,700, just under my $50K marker. The G14 8-series convertible also launched in 2018, while the second-generation (G23) 4-series convertible just launched just last year. How many of these products will receive a subsequent generation is anyone’s guess, but since they are all relatively new for now they should stick around for the foreseeable future.
Audi
Audi’s convertible lineup has shrunk considerably as it has turned its focus to electric vehicles, CUVs, and electric CUVs. The A3 convertible (Audi’s cheapest convertible offering) disappeared with the newly introduced fourth-generation 2021 A3. The slow-selling TT Roadster is living on borrowed time: Originally scheduled to stop production in 2020, the TT has received multiple stays of execution of the past year, but rest assured that its end of production is imminent (ditto for the R8 Spyder). This leaves the $50,400 A5/S5 as the only convertible in Audi’s lineup whose future is secure.
Lexus
Lexus LC500 Roadster
The good news is that for the first time since the demise of the folding top IS300 in 2015, there is a convertible back in Lexus’ lineup, one of the few bright spots in this report. Better yet, by all accounts, the LC500 convertible with a 471-hp 5.0 liter V8 is a pretty spectacular car. The bad news is that, unlike the IS convertible, the LC500, starting at $101,000, is hardly affordable, continuing the trend of convertible models moving from low- and mid-range models to the higher-end models.
GM
Rental lot darling Buick Cascada disappeared in 2019 as Buick has transformed into a CUV only brand. This leaves the Corvette and Camaro as the sole remaining convertible offerings for all of GM. Development on the seventh-generation Camaro was shelved a few years back, so I wouldn’t bet on the current model making it past 2023 (although who knows, maybe the Camaro name will come back as a BEV CUV). This leaves the Corvette as the only convertible model whose future is secure. While undoubtedly a bargain for what you get at $68,500, the Corvette roadster is certainly not cheap.
The forthcoming $100K+ 2022 GMC Hummer EV truck will feature removable roof panels, which I guess is kind of a convertible.
Ford
Official rental car of Florida
The Mustang is the sole remaining car in Ford’s domestic lineup of either the fixed- or soft-roof variety. So long as there are vacationers renting cars in sunbelt locations, the future of the Mustang convertible would seem to be secure. Starting at just over $32,000, the Mustang is one of the last “affordable” convertibles and one of the cheapest convertibles you can still buy.
The 2021 Bronco with removable roof panels is the first open-air Ford not named Mustang name since the 2005 Thunderbird.
Mazda
Thank heavens for the Miata. Not only is it one of the best new convertibles you can buy, but starting at $26,580 it is also the cheapest. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?
Fiat
The Fiat 500 Convertible was last sold in the US in 2019. The Fiat 124 Spyder (a rebadged Miata) was discontinued in 2020, so in the course of just two short years, Fiat went from having two affordable convertible models to none.
Mini
The convertible has been a centerpiece of Mini’s US lineup almost since day one, and will likely remain here as long as there are buyers for it. Starting at just under $28K, it is also one of the cheapest new convertibles still for sale.
Jeep
Here’s a question that always trips people up whenever I ask it: What is the best-selling convertible in the US, and has been year in and year out for the past several decades? It is a difficult question to answer unless you expand your definition of convertibles beyond just cars, in which case the answer is obvious: The Jeep Wrangler. The Wrangler remains an enduring anachronism, with its removable doors and fold-down windshield, which I don’t see ever going away.
Nissan
The unloved Murano CrossCabriolet disappeared in 2015 after failing to launch the convertible CUV segment. The last Infiniti convertible (the G60 with a retractable hardtop) was sold in 2016. The 370Z Roadster quietly disappeared in 2019, (I actually didn’t know it was gone prior to researching this piece) leaving Nissan without any convertible models. The replacement 400Z model will be sold only as a closed coupe, leaving Nissan without any open models for the foreseeable future.
To summarize, it is not your imagination: the amount of convertible models for sale is steadily shrinking and will continue to shrink, especially on the affordable (less than $50K) end of the market. While some models like the Mustang, Miata, and Wrangler will likely be evergreen, for most other manufacturers the answer for an affordable convertible will increasingly be a two or three-year-old CPO model. Much like the overall automotive market, the models that are left are not only becoming more expensive, but more trucky, as many new convertible models (like the Jeep Gladiator, Ford Bronco, and GMC Hummer) seek to cash in on the rising popularity of trucks.
The prevalence of black interiors can’t be helping. A few minutes in the sunshine and you can’t touch anything.
I would love to have a convertible again, but I’ve had one melanoma and two basal cell surgeries.
with 4 convertibles now, and a lifetime driving them, fair Norwegian ancestry my doctors demand I NEVER lower the top during the day (still enjoy driving at night). have had my left ear reconstructed after melanoma, and know my dermatologist well with checks every two months, usually have pre-cancerous removals. My deasr friend Charlene always drove converts, they missed a melanoma, at 57. My son is restoring my 2nd ’63 Electra conver5 for him, he knows the risks. Last day trip with top down was showing Nathan most of the California coast highwar when he was a teen, now days are top up, a/c on. Ralph L, all my interiors are white.
Tears. I have always loved the open car. I am sure that we all have stories about them – and rightfully so.
I have noticed this phenomena for awhile now. And some of those available in the “under $50k” bracket are not far under it – I don’t think it’s terribly easy to find a Jeep Wrangler for under that price, though it’s possible for the one willing to stick to basics.
Agree about the under $50k bracket.
For many of these, you’d be hard pressed to actually find one with no options, and as we all know, option packages have a way of creating a domino effect: “Leather seats require Interior Package 0U812 ($2,743) Add/Delete?”
And some manufacturers make the base version so undesirable that no dealer would risk ordering one for fear of having a “lot anchor.”
Van Hagar!
Guess I better take good care of my 2008 Chrysler Sebring Limited retractable hardtop! Even though it was/has been much maligned over the years by the automotive press, it has been very reliable for me since purchasing it in 2012 with 49K miles…plus with the push of a button I get to feel the wind in what little is left of my hair.
I have owned several convertibles over the years…1970 Chevelle Malibu (with a 6 cylinder!), 1973 Mustang, 1999 Volvo C70, the above-mentioned 2008 Sebring, and my 1969 Dodge Polara.
Convertibles have always been pretty rare, at least in my experience. No one I knew growing up had one in the family, and even today, no one in my neighborhood has one. I’ll see them on the highway, sure, but usually the very expensive supercar variety. It’s true that they have been getting harder and harder to find.
If I didn’t already have a CC to work on, I might seek out an 80s or 90s Saab 900 convertible. Those have always punched the ticket for me. Of course, those aren’t cheap to keep on the road, and parts are only getting rarer and more expensive.
When manufacturers sold one or two sizes with lots of bodies and before air conditioning, convertibles were aspirational and could sell in respectable numbers; they were the glamorous “sports cars” that said “My owner is special,” even if the owner wasn’t super keen on top down motoring. Air conditioning began as a very expensive option that made the extra expense of a convertible look kinda silly, and manufacturers began offering a blizzard of sizes and shapes of cars for people to be special. Convertibles now are specialty items, not mainstream glamour leaders.
It’s worth noting that even the best selling convertible of all time, the 1965 Mustang, of which over 73k were built and sold, only accounted for 13% of the total Mustang sales in that record-breaking sales year.
Your next convertible will either be an old car or a SUV.
In my case, it’s not disinterest in convertibles, but the realization that they don’t do the job well enough. After the death of my second wife, I realized I’d been promising myself a roadster for 40 years and had never done anything about it. Full of “how much time do you have left?” angst I (stupidly) traded my Porsche 924S on a Pontiac Solstice. Which lasted a year and a half. Two years later I tried again with a Fiat 500c Abarth. It also lasted a year and a half.
Why the failures? Because roadster sports cars are cars you only drive on nice days with the top down. The only times the tops were up on my cars was to wash them. If the weather had the potential to be lousy, I took whatever my sedan was at the time.
But if it was a gorgeous day, I invariably went to my other garage . . . and grabbed one of my motorcycles. Unless my current wife insisted on coming along and didn’t feel like riding pillion. Sports cars are neat, wonderful vehicles, but they just cannot compare to a good bike. In the end, the bikes won out completely, as my Chevy Bolt is theoretically as far from a sports car as one can get. (Not actually, go play with one in the twisties. Not a Porsche, but up there with my past Scion xB with a manual, which I owned at the same time and never felt cheated driving it after the Porsche.)
Should have just kept the Porsche (what a grocery getter!) and the bikes.
This! At my last job, nearly everyone in my department owned a Miata and at least once a month, one of them would ask when I would get one. Well, I have three motorcycles in my garage. I don’t have the money, space, time, or desire for a roadster. My bikes scratch that itch just fine.
I’ve only owned one convertible, and I wouldn’t do it again unless I was able to keep the car in the garage except for perfect convertible weather. Then I would have the issue of is it worth it to have a car around only for very occasional use. Guess people like me are part of the reason there are so few now!
“Sports cars are neat, wonderful vehicles, but they just cannot compare to a good bike.”
Funny you think that. I experience exactly the opposite.
But then maybe we differ what we see as a “sports car” and a “good bike”.
My sports car is a 58 year old Triumph TR4 which I have owned for 25+ years. Back then, it definitively was a sports car. But I would not dare it to compare to a modern sports car. My “good bike” is a 20 year old Triumph Bonneville. This indeed is a good bike in my opinion.
When the sun is up I always take the TR4. Just hop in and off you go. I get more pleasure from driving that than the Bonnie. For taking the bike, I need to get dressed and putting on a helmet. Forget to take any luggage. Too much trouble!
The driving experience with a bike is so much different to a car that they cannot be compared really. I love driving the bike through the corners. But still I get more kicks out driving the old TR4.
Sorry, this all probably has nothing to do with modern open top cars. These convertibles are more like closed cars with a big sliding roof because you always see them with the side windows up and a wind deflector behind the seats. Which may be nice to drive but not for me.
Great article! It is indeed a shame that affordable convertibles seem to be an endangered species. I hadn’t realized some of the models you discuss were gone or soon will be.
You didn’t mention VW, long a purveyor of affordable drop tops. The Beetle convertible died in 2019 and I don’t believe they have any other currently.
I would quibble with your statement about what happened in the late ’70s and early ’80s, as I would say late 60’s and early 70’s. In the U.S, at least, convertible models started dwindling in the late 60’s, roughly corresponding to the increasing availability and affordability of factory AC. They really started dropping in the early 70’s. Chrysler’s last was 1971, Ford’s 1973, while GM dropped all theirs by 1972 except full size convertibles and the Corvette through 1975. The Eldorado was famously the “last convertible” in 1976.
https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new/t-roc-cabriolet.html
They just don’t sell it here…
As usual I am going against the flow of trends as I just picked up a lightly used Mazda MX-5 RF. The nice thing about the RF is it can operate as a hard top as well.
Walking around the Ford dealer’s lot about a month or so ago, even finding a Mustang Convertible below $50K was difficult. Of course most were GT(s), so there’s that, but “starting at $32K”? None in that price range as far as I could see. The cheapest Eco-Boost model was easily north of $40K… more like $42K and change if memory serves.
Mazda Miata is always the answer unless you are above a certain height.
A Mustang probably makes more sense for guys my height (6ft). I fit in a Corvette too but the ergonomics are not right for me.
I think the convertible’s uncertain future lies with the vehicles it’s available with, it’s a niche bodystyle applied exclusively niche car segments, and those segments of late have been much more laser focused on dynamic performance that lopping the roof off of and equipping a cumbersome folding structure inherently has a negative impact on. In the 50s-60s convertibles were available on every model in every segment, if you’re the type of person who simply wanted full open air motoring but didn’t car about performance (on or off road) or image there was plenty to choose from and they could be as big or small as you wanted, but that segment of the market is basically already dead as the cars that offered it were usually compact only or were only appealing for the sake of being a convertible and unremarkable otherwise(J bodies, Chrysler Sebring). The Toyota Solara was probably the last average good convertible in that regard, a midsize Camry convertible basically, but (to generalize a bit) Toyota buyers tend value practicality and both purchase value and resale value and a convertible isn’t a great proposition so only so many buyers put their money down on one.
Plus modern design trends hasn’t been kind, high beltlines and convertibles don’t mix. The Camaro convertible is the worst offender, it’s like sitting in a bucket with the rim at chin level. The styling is very spoiled too, the roofline does a lot in selling the retro cues, take that away and it looks like an undefined box. The S550 Mustang is an improvement, but the 05-14 convertibles had the same problem.
The Wrangler, Bronco et al make the most sense as convertibles for me personally. If I’m a SUV buyer with aspirations that I might take my vehicle on a trail to some remote nature spot one day(which may never happen, like for most buyers) why would I want to be encased in an enclosed passenger compartment on the journey? It kind of amazes me for the last 20+ years until now the ONLY choice in this field was the Wrangler. I wouldn’t resent the Crossover epoch so much if the vehicles actually had some fun and whimsy to them an open top provides.
We are losing so many types of vehicles, so there is really no surprise that a convertible apocalypse is nigh. While a lot of people commented about roadsters, which I own one (1996 Miata) and love, the real “bread and butter” convertibles up to the 1970s were really a version of another body style that has lost all favor – a genuine 2 door coupe. If they offered a 2 door hardtop coupe, making a convertible was relatively easy. And since they could charge a premium, they made them. Big ones, small ones, mid sized ones, most models would have that ragtop version as the apex of the pricing chart. I would posit that the Solara convertible would have never happened had Toyota not sold the “regular” Solara as the 2 door version of the Camry.
But then, having lived through the 1970s death of the convertible, only to see it rise again, I have no real doubt that fashion will change, sooner or later, and we will see them again. Along with sedans, wagons, and coupes, or PLCs, as buyers want something different from what they grew up riding in.
^This. In fact, one of the stranger examples of a manufacturer ‘not’ operating in this manner is the Camaro coupe and convertible. You would have thought the coupe would have been designed as a true hardtop with quarter windows that roll down, making the conversion for a convertible substantially more easy (and cost effective).
But, no, the Camaro coupe’s quarter windows are fixed, as well as having a solid B-pillar. It doesn’t seem to make much sense with a convertible in the line-up for the window construction to be so dissimiliar between the models.
Same quandary could be thrown at 94-04 Mustangs, both coupe and convertible used quarter windows with a cosmetically hardtop like appearance to the coupe, but had fixed quarter glass. Oddly enough Ford even made a bolt on Hardtop for available for convertibles the first year, begging the question “why couldn’t they figure out how to do this to all coupes?”
Another good reason to keep my Dad bought new ‘75 Olds Delta 88 Royale. One of 7181.
I think that the reduction of convertibles to fewer and fewer models led to decreasing demand. Not everyone wants to drive a small sports model. I’ve had big convertibles, a ’64 Cadillac and ’65 Impala and they are much better for cruising around with family or a group of adult passengers. I rode motorcycles extensively for 35 years. I quit riding years ago and I find equal enjoyment driving my Mustang convertible. I think that many 30-50 year old buyers are just too busy in their everyday lives to enjoy putting the top down on a regular basis.