A view from the top
In the beginning, vehicles were open-top buggies that quickly gained roofs to protect their occupants. At some point, ironically, the no-roof thing actually became pleasurable. Today, it’s really about disguising your secret desire for freedom as practica
The Mercedes SLK, the Mazda Miata PRHT, the Volkswagen EOS and even the new Ferrari 488 Spider are like real-life Transformers. Just push a button . . . it’s that easy.
But on sunny days a modern convertible, with the roof down, will cook your head. Or soak you if you even so much as look at a cloud the wrong way.
Put in that context, it’s tough to define — or even understand — the popularity of the American convertible in its 85-plus years on the road.
The automotive anomaly went from a curiosity in the 1930s, to a tragic James Dean snapshot of the 1950s, to near extinction in the 1970s, to resurrection in the 1980s . . . and everywhere in between along the way.
Demand for the convertible will never reach the levels of the 1950s and 1960s when the six-metre long Lincoln Continental led the list of “land yachts” that became standard equipment on North American roadways.
But with convertible classics such as the Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette and the Ford Mustang on the 2017 product list, this topless symbol of summer and a staple of driving freedom remains strong.
“Whether it’s enjoying a lazy drive on a winding two-lane or cruising to a local drive-in,” Rex Roy wrote in a tribute story for Popular Mechanics. “Summer and convertibles go together like lemonade and ice tea.”
The evolution of the convertible has been dramatic, mainly because automakers and engineers have spent decades chasing design issues that stood in the way of convenience and security.
In the beginning, all cars were open air because they were nothing more than motorized horse buggies, where design efforts centered on engine performance and reliability, not on creature comforts... like a proper roof and side glass or a heating system that could keep the glass from fogging up in a fully enclosed vehicle.
The demands for improved safety and shelter led Cadillac founder Henry Leland to introduce the fully closed body design in 1905. Leland’s basic ideas gained traction while engineers assigned to the development of convertible vehicles continued to battle design demons with leaks, drafts, noise and the painful consumer details of removing and reattaching the stubborn and fragile cloth roof contraption.
By 1925, the closed-cabin vehicle controlled 90-per cent of the market, essentially cutting out the open-air era, but not deterring an underground push for a true “convertible” that would balance the freedom of openness with the comfort of enclosure.
The convertible needed a breakthrough, and it got one in 1939 when Plymouth introduced the first power-controlled top.
The convenience of the power top was a brief boon, but the fruits of those improvements would have to simmer as automobile production in North America was all but halted for six years during the Second World War from 1939-’45.
But a booming post-war economy, consumer confidence, fresh designs from General Motors and some slick concepts from Ford helped push demand for the convertible through the 1950s to more than five per cent of all new-car sales, its highest level to that time.
Ford controlled much of the convertible market in the 1950s with its popular Thunderbird and Fairlane models. General Motors, meanwhile, was making a mark with its “hardtop” convertible design in the Cadillac Coupe de Ville and Buick Roadmaster. The hardtop convertibles were constructed with a fixed roof that had to be removed. The pillarless look and disappearing side windows provided the feel of a convertible with the added protection and safety of a closed vehicle. But, when it was off, the roof needed to go someplace, which was far from handy.
The popularity of Ford models and the success of the GM hardtops kept convertible demand at about six per cent of the automotive market through the 1960s.
The carefree attitude of the 1950s and ’60s gave way to the recessive ’70s with two oil embargoes, government proposals for expensive roll-over crash protection, and a general disapproval of the quality control of domestic automakers.
Manufacturers continued to drop convertibles from their assembly lines and in 1976 Cadillac announced its Eldorado would be the “last convertible in America,” prophetically holding that distinction until Chrysler savior Lee Iacocca unveiled the wildly popular Chrysler LeBaron convertible in 1982.
The LeBaron was built on the ubiquitous K-Car platform and sold 23,000 units in its first year, which was more than seven times the sales projections. After a fiveyear drought, manufacturers were again making convertibles and Iacocca was being celebrated for saving both Chrysler and the North American convertible.
Ford and GM followed suit and converted their popular-selling Sunbirds, Cavaliers, Mustangs and Camaros, while Chrysler continued to manufacture its popular Sebringthen-200 convertible.
European and Asian automakers offer a more eclectic lineup for convertible enthusiasts and budgets but most significant is that most sports cars were convertibles, whether MGs, Triumphs or the amazing Austin Healey Hundred.
Of course, the unmatched comfort of the traditional closed-air sedan will always keep the convertible in its isolated place among new car buyers, but the convenience of the metal folding top, for one, is helping to make it easier to justify what was once considered a frivolous second-car purchase.
A convertible as a primary mode of transport? Yes, indeed, as they now merge somewhat sensible transportation and wind-in-your hair freedom into one vehicle.