Hottest Convertible Cars

A convertible car is also called a cabriolet in Great Britain. This is actually a car that has a folding roof that can allow you to have direct contact with the wind while you drive. The roof of the car is usually manufactured in light materials such as vinyl, canvas, aluminum, or even plastic. If the roof of the convertible car is made of a rigid material, the car is called coupe cabriolet or coupe convertible.

The history of the convertible car starts the very beginning of the history of automobiles. Did you know that all the cars were convertible to begin with, and it was only in 1910 that closed body style cars were introduced? This happened thanks to the Cadillac. However, up to 1910, a roof was not a must because the engine was weak, and the speed of the car was not threatening. During the 1950s and 1960s, the convertible cars became in vogue again, and there were many models available, manufactured by different American manufacturers. Some of these convertible cars included the Packard Caribbean, the Oldsmobile 98, or the Imperial by Chrysler.

There were also some cost-effective editions such as the Rambler American and the Studebaker Lark. All these models of convertible cars were highly popular and you had to have one in order to be in style. In the movies several of these models appeared, endorsing the style and making these convertibles even more popular. However, today, the convertible cars are not so popular as they used to be, but in case you would like one, the offer is quite impressive: the Alfa Romeo, the Aston Martin DB9 Volante, the Audi A4 or the TT, the Bentley Azure, the BMW Z3 and Z4, the Buick Electra, the Dodge 400 or the Viper, the Ford Mustang, the Jeep Wrangler, the Lotus Elan, the Mercedes Benz SL and SLK, the MINI, the Nissan 350Z Roadster, the Opel Astra Capri, Peugeot, Renault, Toyota or Volkswagen and the list can continue.

Source: Hottest Convertible Cars
convertible Bentley photos

2010 Mini Cooper Convertible

All Coopers get speed control and a multi-function steering wheel as standard, and a Harmon Kardon speakers joins the options list. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the MINI brand, the Cooper and Cooper S hardtops will be presented in limited-edition Mayfair and Camden models. Both feature unique exterior and interior trim, paint schemes, and a “50″ badge on the grille. MINI showed a concept version at the Paris Auto Show. The MINI Crossover Concept is longer than the Clubman and features four doors, four-wheel-drive, and increased ground clearance. The concept car has a conventionally hinged rear door on the right side and a sliding door on the left. It also has a side-hinged rear hatch, but it’s hinged on the right, which would make loading from the curbside difficult — let’s hope MINI deep-sixes that idea and goes with a regular top-hinged hatch for the production car. The extra ground clearance seems a little silly, but the idea of a four-door MINI is most welcome.

One number jumps off the page when looking down the fact sheet of the new Mini Cooper Convertible: 164,000. That’s how many of these compact, open-top playgrounds on wheels the BMW Group has sold since the car’s inception in 2005. This round instrument that resides next to the tachometer behind the steering wheel keeps track of how long the top is retracted while driving. It’s really quite useless, so I asked a Mini engineer, “What’s the point?”

On the icy roads of the Austrian Alps, the new Mini Cooper S Convertible shined like the Southern California sun. It possesses the same basic go-kart-like handling character as the previous open-top Mini, but a notch sharper. Credit here goes to the car’s revised suspension — MacPherson struts up front and a torsion beam rear — that’s been specially tuned for the convertible. Despite not being an all-independent setup, the Mini suspension does a commendable job of providing near-neutral cornering balance through all types of corners while keeping body roll in check. It boasts a long list of technical features including BMW’s variable valve timing, direct fuel injection and a twin-scroll turbocharger. Step on the throttle and the engine delivers seamless power to the front wheels, without the lag associated with most turbocharged engines.

Our test car came with the manual 6-speed gearbox, whose short throws and well-defined gates add to Mini’s sporty demeanor — why anyone would get this car with the 6-speed automatic is a mystery to me. As for the car’s styling, it looks virtually identical to the old Mini inside and out, although the car does have different side panels and slightly larger taillights. While the Mini Cooper S Convertible looks striking with the top down, its appearance hardly suffers with the roof up. Speaking of the roof, it’s still a soft top that’s automatically lowered / raised by a toggle switch on the dash. The new Mini Cooper S goes on sale in April for $27,450 ($24,550 for the base 118-bhp Mini Cooper Convertible), complete with the Openometer which ultimately revealed to everyone that I drove most of my test route with the top up. Damn modern technology.

Source: 2010 Mini Cooper Convertible