The Men Who Kept the Convertible Going

It was Detroit, in fact, that killed the ragtop, citing waning sales as air conditioning, safety concerns and federal fuel-economy rules conspired to dim convertibles' appeal.

When Cadillac dropped the Eldorado in 1976, an era ended.

And it wasn't until six years later, after a Newport Beach Ferrari restorer and a Michigan sunroof maker who started his business in Los Angeles showed the way, that a domestic car company rolled out a new convertible.

The unspoken reason soft tops died out, industry watchers say, is that car makers had been losing money on every one they built. Despite the great degree of expensive hand-finishing a convertible requires, the companies were afraid to charge a premium and priced them on par with the coupes on which they were based.

But Ferrari restorer Richard Straman, whose custom-built Camaro ragtops were selling in Orange and Los Angeles counties for almost 50% more than the coupe in the early 1980s, showed car makers that people would indeed pay more for a convertible.

"They are sporty and unique, and people want that," said David Cole, director of the University of Michigan's Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation.

Car makers didn't believe that in 1976, but within a few years they were shocked by the big bucks being raked in by automotive aftermarket firms that were installing sunroofs and T-tops to open cars up to the sun and wind.

"You continually monitor the marketplace," said Jack Witucki, Mustang and Thunderbird brand manager at Ford Motor Co. "When you see people going into the aftermarket to buy custom-made convertibles, and watch the sales of sunroofs, moon roofs and T-tops soar, then you know that people want convertibles and that you'd better start making them again."

Detroit's reentry vehicle was the 1982 Chrylser LeBaron. It was followed in 1983 by the Buick Riviera and the reintroduced Ford Mustang soft top.

Now there are 24 different convertibles available to new-car buyers in California, with at least two more due to hit dealer showrooms in the next six months--the Audi TT and the Mercedes-Benz CLK.