Hooniverse Asks – Which Car Most Needs a Convertible Version?

By Robert Emslie Mar 10, 2011

There used to be this guy – Richard Straman – who cut the roofs off of cars for a living. He didn’t just Henry the VIII them, he turned them into proper convertibles, and by this act, he rectified a deficiency the original manufacturer had not seen fit to.
Straman brought forth more 365 GTS4s than Ferrari itself thought there should be. He also turned Honda’s two-seater CRX into an open topped sportster, in an attempt to recapture the magic of the original Austin Healey Sprite. Others have also stepped up to the plate where makers have let their better judgement lapse. That has meant convertible versions of such greats as the Chrysler 300C and even the Subaru Impreza STi.
These days, convertibles ooze out of factory assembly lines just like their hard-capped brethren, and Mustangs, M3s and Mercedes AMGs can all be had with both wind in the hair, and bugs in the teeth. But what of the cars that presently don’t offer a topless option? What of the Challengers, Scion tCs and Tata Nanos, cars that are trapped within their confining shells? Which of these, or any other car yearning to burst form and drop its top would you think most deserves to do so?
Image source: [Cortina80]

0 thoughts on “Hooniverse Asks – Which Car Most Needs a Convertible Version?”
  1. It's probably too late for it, but I'd love to see a Panther-based convertible. A giant droptop land yacht, something we haven't had for years.
    In addition, the Toyota Prius – since it's not about driving enjoyment, the loss of rigidity isn't much of an issue.

      1. That car was sold at auction a couple of years ago. Unfortunately it wasn't street legal (no VIN), and didn't include things like side windows, wiring, etc. Whomever bought it would be in for a huge job making it functional. In other words, something cool to put in your living room (you could play drive-in movie).

        1. That's typical of showcars – most of the time they're cobbled-up affairs meant to look pretty on the show floor but not intended or engineered for any driving on the street. I'd wonder what the body flex would be like on this convertible.

          1. Since the panther platform wasn't unibody, but rather had a full frame under it, it was actually an excellent candidate for a convertible. Flex would have probably been no worse than most older, full-size convertibles, or a pickup truck.

          2. But even the old body-on-frame convertibles had special reinforcements such as underbody braces. That's why they were rather heavier than their coupe counterparts. Just as an example, a 1966 Galaxie 500 convertible weighed 200 pounds more than an otherwise identical Galaxie hardtop. And the droptop was still pretty flexy.

    1. Well, the Prius is all about rubbing it in your neighbors' face that you are "green". It's a status symbol. Therefore, a droptop Prius makes all the sense in the world.

      1. My marketing courses lead me to spin it that you get to better enjoy the air you've helped make cleaner, but you're not wrong.

  2. Dodge Caravan. It would be the quickest way to get rid of the fast food wrappers, empty juice boxes and used coloring book pages.

    1. When my sister and I were small, my folks could use the '63 Austin-Healey Sprite Mk. II as a family car. My dad & mom sat in front of course, and in those pre-child-seat-mandate days me and my sister could sit in the little space behind the seats, on mom's lap, wherever. I'm told that my sister was drinking a bottle just as we got into town, and when she finished she hurled it out of the car as hard as she could instead of giving it back to mom.

  3. I know one car that SHOULDN'T be made into a convertible: Nissan Murano.
    Wait, what's that? Uh…never mind.

    1. I actually like that car, it's just so nuts that it becomes charming in a way. Wouldn't be caught dead in one, though.

    1. The Raptor may be much more powerful than an M715, but its' about 50 percent less manly and 93 percent less awesome.

  4. I'm a bit surprised that the Genesis Coupe has not been offered as a drophead coupe. Though, it is more preformance-focused than it's American pony brethren.

  5. I remember a time when every land barge Lincoln and Caddilac could be had in a convertible.

  6. Not sure how I can illustrate this, but a Ford Transit Connect would be killer with T-Tops.
    Also, are you deliberately baiting me with the Carbodies Cortina ^ ?!

  7. Just cause I'd love to see the mechanism involved with the folding roof I'd want to see a Ford Flex turned into a Convertable.

  8. Going with the "hybrids aren't sporty and thus would make a good candidate for a soft, twisty 'vert", how about a ragtop CR-Z?
    <img src="http://img263.imageshack.us/i/2009hondacrzragtop.jpg/&gt; width="400">
    Quick chop; I imagine this top would be manually operated a la Miata. If it's sunny, plop! Two seconds flat. And keep the rear side pillars, too. I don't know what to call this contraption…

  9. Nissan GT-R. Because nothing improves a stupidly fast but slightly soulless car like 150mph with no roof on.

  10. I'm stumped for a serious answer to this question because I prefer boxy 4-place convertibles with relatively low belt lines, like the pictured Cortina. I can't think of any current cars that meet that criteria.

  11. There probably wasn't another really clean way to work a removable hard roof and a door with window frames, particularly when quantity=10 and the trucks were intended for owners getting them for free.

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