With the current CC tune up ongoing, I thought some nice B-bodies would make everybody feel better. It is undisputed that the 1977-up B-body GM full-size is a CC favorite, but why no convertible? Looks rather attractive to me…
Of course, the dreaded rollover standards had gotten everyone worried in Detroit, and the fact that convertible sales had been steadily dropping since the mid-’60s probably made the decision easy. But just think: If a convertible had been offered, maybe the B-bodies would be more collectible and valuable today–and less likely to be trashed in demolition derbies, sullied by bright pink paint and chrome wagon wheels with rubber-band tires, and otherwise mistreated.
And if the Caprice isn’t enough for you, how about a Bonneville convertible? With snowflake alloys, no less. It could have saved Pontiac!
It could have been done. GM still had plenty of money back then. But the plain truth is they probably wouldn’t have been big sellers. Oh well, we can dream.
And for those of you new to CC, Bonneville and Caprice CCs can be found here and here, respectively.
With enough money, anything is possible, and was possible in 1977. There were a few custom coachbuilders who built downsized GM full sized convertibles in the 1970s, doing what we can do only by Photoshop. Those with very deep pockets could have ordered a 1977-79 Cadillac deVille convertible bodied by Hess & Eisenhardt, the “LeCabriolet,” through their Cadillac dealer.
Although expensive and only built in small numbers (and possessing a silly name), the LeCabriolet shows that building a convertible downsized B/C-Body would not have been difficult. I would buy one of the survivors in a heartbeat if I could find one at the right price.
There were some Oldsmobile 98’s and a very few Buick PA’s. I saw this one parked on a Winnipeg street.
Wow, I really like that Ninety-Eight!
I like it too! Do you have any information on who made the Buick and Olds convertibles? I know only about the Cadillac conversions.
They were all converted by Hess & Eisenhardt and sold as “Dealer Option” through select dealers. I may be wrong but believe the cost was around 20k on top of the price of the vehicle. I read somewhere they only did a small hanfull of Buicks.
I found what may have been a 1977-79 magazine ad for the Olds 98 conversion.
If this wikipedia page can be believed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coach_convertible
it was made by by Hess & Eisenhardt. I can believe this myself because they also made Cutlass Ciera and Buick Century convertible conversions. (one of the Cutlass Ciera conversions is shown in several episodes of the A-Team the first season)
Wow that really works! I’d love to have that.
One of these Cadillac aftermarket convertibles appeared in an Italian movie titled
“Nati con la camicia”. I spotted a screenshot on IMCDB
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_101001-Cadillac-Coupe-DeVille-1978.html
There were a few semi-custom Lincoln convertibles in this era too, both Continentals and Mark Vs.
I like the look of these, but then I tend to like almost all big convertibles. And you are right about convertibles having been in a death spiral for about a decade before they petered out in the mid 70s.
Given GM’s track record during this time period, I’m really surprised they didn’t build these convertibles, after all there was no demand and these convertibles weren’t at all attractive.
Sounds like a “Go” to me
The Black Bonnie gave me chills, that woulda been a gorgeous car!
Even better, it looks like Herb Tarlek is driving!
+1
Not long before he traded it in for an ’80 Cordoba…
With a peroxide-haired Bailey Quarters riding shotgun, to make the “what if” scenario even more extreme!
I don’t know, it looks a lot like Sheriff Buford T. Justice’s car after it slid under the semi.
+1
Call me nostalgic for the era of my childhood but I’d rather have a Caprice Classic Coupe with T-tops and an intact bent-glass rear window.
I also like the idea, although the beltlines remaining from the 2-door sedans would look odd in combination with windows narrow enough to retract all the way. (This was less of a problem with the real-life Coupe de Ville conversion, which had opera-type rear quarter windows that weren’t defined by a beltline at their lower edge, so a new “beltline” could be more easily created.)
As recently as the 1969 model year, there were four different sizes of Pontiac convertible – Firebird, LeMans/GTO, Catalina, Bonneville – most of which came in two or more trim levels. By ’76, all gone.
I especially lament that the clever inward-folding top bows in the 1971 full-size GM convertibles, which yielded a much wider rear seat, weren’t invented earlier; my ’66 Bonneville convertible (sold in 1991 after 17 years) had a not-very-large rear seat for a 222-inch-long car.
Well, if you’re going to do that, how about making a two seater by shortening the wheelbase and rear overhang. Call it the Broughvette.
There were several custom Cadillac Sevilles modified that way during the late 1970s, retaining vestigial rear seats but with wheelbases and rear overhangs shortened. As you would expect from a chopped version of an already relatively compact car, most looked stubby and strangely proportioned.
Like this?
The proportions are rather nice. Can you shorten the deck?
Here you go…
Very good.
The proportions on either one look like it could be a “1986 FWD Eldo-Caprice.”
It was pretty bad what some did to the Seville…
That looks terrible with that stupid fender-mounted spare. Ugh.
The San Remo Seville conversion was quite classy, although it was uncommon in that respect.
Now that one looks nice. It reminds me a lot of an ’82-’85 Riviera convertible from that angle.
That’s actually one of the rare tasteful conversions. Unfortunately conversions went from bad to worse with the 2nd gen Seville…
I remember the San Remo. I always thought it looked great and was the best of the conversions by far. As a 13 or so year old kid, I wrote and requested a brochure, which I still have.
I think you artwork is great. Thanks. Wish you would do some renderings of current cars with two and three tone paint jobs. Would be a lot of fun to see.
What if…well, no thank you. The Caprice looks off without its roof.
The much feared “roll-over” standard of 1975 never happened. The real reason ragtops were axed was there was no money in them. The 1974 Caprice featured a few days ago only sold something like 6,5000 copies. You’ll never make money on those volumes.
Glad I’m not the only one who feels this way. The last time we discussed the last days of GMs B-platform convertibles, I had a tough time convincing another commenter that it was poor sales – not proposed rollover standards – that killed the big droptops.
Let’s face it: This was the brougham era, where big-car buyers paying a premium (as they would for a convertible) wanted a quiet isolation chamber filled with things like velvety seats, effective heat and air, and stereo sound. Those creature comforts aren’t easy to deliver in a convertible, and particularly at that time.
I can’t get over the length of that thing. Was it exaggerated in the original ad? If there had been an optional clock for rear seat passengers, it would have to have been set for a different time zone.
I’ve seen a few of the 80’s era Caprice coupes converted, in the “donk” circle. I don’t know about the functionality but it’s been done, and it sort of works.. at least if you can get past the wheels, paint color, interior and tv screens, etc. I really resent that so many Caprice’s ended up with this fate.
Just Google: “box chevy convertible” and you’ll see them.
Or on youtube:
Here’s an example:
But is that a true convertible – with a folded top that can be raised – or has the roof simply been cut off and the cut edges upholstered over?
Good question, on this one it’s probably a hack job.