It's Convertible Season in the Land of Endless Winter

San Jose Mercury News, Calif

Matt Nauman

January 6, 2004

DETROIT - In the land of endless winter, they're dreaming about endless summer.

How else to explain the bevy of new convertibles on display at the North American International Auto Show this week? On Tuesday, DaimlerChrysler unveiled its long-awaited Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible and the roadster version of its Chrysler Crossfire coupe.

In all, a half dozen production convertibles were revealed, along with a healthy handful of concept drop-tops and there's more to come. Convertible versions of two of this year's stars, the Ford Mustang and Chevy Corvette, will come later this year or in 2005, and the topless version of the popular Mini Cooper will be shown in April.

Convertibles are rarely big sellers, but they add the prestige and fun that car brands seek, and they're certainly popular in places like California and Florida.

Wolfgang Bernhard, chief operating officer of the Chrysler Group, knows buyers have been anxiously awaiting the PT Cruiser convertible. And some haven't waited.

"We've seen die-hard PT Cruiser fans in California going to a customizer, chopping off the roof and putting a very poor-quality convertible top for a lot of money into the PT Cruiser," he said. "We've had so many PT Cruiser fans just beg us to do a convertible."

It'll arrive this spring as a two-door, four-seat model, with a starting price of $19,995, plus $590 destination. A 150-horsepower, 2.4-liter four-cylinder and a manual transmission are standard. A Touring model with a turbo-charged, 180-horsepower engine and an automatic shifter will sell for $22,900, plus destination. A 220-horsepower GT model that'll sell for $27,565, plus destination, completes the line.

The PT Cruiser wagon first went on sale in 2000 as a 2001 model. Its sales exceeded original projections, although they dropped 22 percent to 107,759 in 2003 as the "buzz" moved onto other cars.

The Crossfire roadster completes a circle for DaimlerChrysler. The Crossfire coupe went on sale last year, borrowing much of its mechanical parts from the SLK roadster from its sibling Mercedes-Benz division. Now, Chrysler will have a topless version, too.

The Crossfire roadster, which goes on sale this spring, will sell for under $40,000. It has a 215-horsepower V-6 and a power top.

"This was a no-brainer to go from a coupe to a roadster," Bernhard said. "This is a very stylish, very sexy vehicle."

The Cruiser and Crossfire brings Chrysler's convertible offerings to three. It also sells the Sebring, which, along with Ford's Mustang and VW's New Beetle, are the top-selling convertibles in the United States.

Fifteen years ago, the convertible market had all but disappeared. Now it's booming.

"It's the halo car for so many manufacturers," said Joe Phillippi of Auto Trends Consulting in New Jersey. "It's what gets the buzz going."

Phillippi likes the new Pontiac Solstice roadster, shown this week and on sale in 2005. Also seen this week in Detroit is the BMW 645 i convertible, the Aston Martin DB9 Volante and a new version of the Porsche Boxster S.

Automakers used convertibles in their concept creations, too. The Ford Shelby Cobra is powerful machine with a 200-mph V-10 engine. The Lincoln Mark X is an elegant roadster, while Subaru's B9SC is a concept roadster powered by a gas-electric hybrid.

Volkswagen, which had a roadster called Concept R in its two-story booth in Detroit, also had several brightly colored New Beetle convertible models on display. The company reports its U.S. New Beetle sales grew 15 percent, thanks to the 57,000 drop-tops it sold.

"These are toy cars," said analyst Phillippi.

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(c) 2004, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.). Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service