zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Culture
/
Retractable Hard-Top Convertibles Are A Doomed Fad
Retractable Hard-Top Convertibles Are A Doomed Fad-May 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:12:17

Image for article titled Retractable Hard-Top Convertibles Are A Doomed Fad

The onslaught of retractable hard-top convertibles over the last two decades basically died overnight, and since I don’t think many people cared enough to realize it, I also don’t think anybody is going to be upset over it.

The writing has been on the wall for the retractable hard-top concept for some time, but the latest video from the made me realize that we are living through the final throws of the hard-top’s death right now:

In the last 20 years, there were hard-top models of the Lexus IS, Chrysler 200 and Sebring, Infiniti Q60, Cadillac XLR, Volkswagen Eos, Volvo C70, and even the Pontiac G6. In the early 2000s, automakers were putting retractable hard-tops on their wildest production designs, including the infamous Chevy SSR and dead-on-arrival Fisker Karma S Sunset Edition. This doesn’t even account for all of the European retractables that came and went, which the Big Car shows more of.

As Big Car notes, making the metal panels of the car move and disappear was a very cool and novel idea for the industry back in the 1990s, when the Mercedes-Benz SLK roadster brought the concept to mass popularity. However, it’s very easy to point out the increased weight and complexity versus a soft fabric roof setup.

Mercedes finally realized its obscenely bloated lineup of over-100 vehicle variant offerings in the U.S. were a problem when it announced some models, including mostly coupes, . As an example, Mercedes when we wrote about the apparent issue in Sept. 2019.

Image for article titled Retractable Hard-Top Convertibles Are A Doomed Fad

Other companies have already silently replaced retractable hard-top models with new generations featuring soft-top mechanisms, like the latest BMW Z4 and 4 Series convertibles. Lexus killed its hard-top offerings and now only sells the soft-top LC, and most other premium or luxury automakers just gave up on their convertibles altogether.

Today, the only truly-affordable retractable hard-top on sale in the U.S. is the Mazda Miata RF, which is more of a retractable Targa top. Otherwise the modern shopper has to aim higher, with one of the multiple selections still available from Mercedes-Benz, or even higher with models like the McLaren 570S Spyder and Ferrari Portofino.

I’m not really setting up for an argument of any sort here. I am perfectly comfortable leaving retractable hard-tops as a fad. They had their time and place, you can still get one at the three major market price points (which are “Maybe Next Year,” Maybe One Day,” and “Maybe If I’m Lucky”), but two things are certain; the fad is nearly dead, and it’s absolutely never going to be applied to a commercial pickup again.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Culture
Trump's Favorite Car Startup Needs More Money
Trump's Favorite Car Startup Needs More Money
Trump threw a lot of weight behind the somewhat quizzical , which facelifted an electric Silverado and got a GM factory for its trouble. Now the startup needs more federal money. All that and more in for January 13, 2020. Already a favored project of the Trump Admin, Lordstown...
May 11, 2025
GM's Electric Van Company Is About Much More Than Electric Vans
GM's Electric Van Company Is About Much More Than Electric Vans
General Motors in its digital Consumer Electronics Show keynote, including Cadillac’s flagship Celestiq and a pair of Corvette-looking crossovers that are, apparently, Buicks. There was a Chevy truck in there too. Lots of EVs, indeed. Given all those fresh faces, it’s easy to miss one of GM’s more grounded,...
May 11, 2025
Is A Factory Screwed-Up Car Cool?
Is A Factory Screwed-Up Car Cool?
If there’s one thing I especially enjoy about being painfully into cars, it’s that the sheer breadth of just how that manifests itself is pretty staggering. Gearhead tastes are wildly divergent, and I’m certain that what I consider a dream car is something that many others would reject in...
May 11, 2025
Listen To The 450 HP Singer ACS Shred Like No Other Safari 911
Listen To The 450 HP Singer ACS Shred Like No Other Safari 911
There’s been plenty of talk about the new 450-horsepower Safari Porsche 911-inspired . We’ll just call it the for short. Enough talk. Now it’s time to listen to the car’s 3.6-liter flat-six engine tear through the mud. Singer finally released video of the first of what will end up...
May 11, 2025
Trump Is Leaving Automakers One Last Gift
Trump Is Leaving Automakers One Last Gift
President Trump’s attempted rollback of Obama-era fuel efficiency standards from start to finish. And now a Trump administration decision on Tuesday means that increased fines for automakers who miss those standards — whatever they are in the end — will be delayed for now. The fines were set to...
May 11, 2025
Blip: Picnic At The Pit
Blip: Picnic At The Pit
Man, this brings back some memories. Memories of being taken to the Great Perfectly Round Pit Of Blackest Ichor in the back of my Church Of The Blackest Ichor youth group leader’s Fiat 1800 wagon, being fed from a dense hockey-puck-like cake set on a large slice of prosciutto,...
May 11, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved