Convertibles Guide

Did You Know . . .

by STEPHAN WILKINSON, ForbesAutos.com
Convertibles Guide
Too Sexy for Your Car?
The Drop-Top of Your Dreams
      Basic Convertibles
      Roadsters
      Hardcore
      Cabriolets
      Luxury
      Exotics
All About Tops
The (Drop) Top Questions
Are You a Convertible Person?
Did You Know . . .

The world's most valuable convertible and the first car with a retractable steel top . . . here's some trivia to satisfy your curiosity, improve your cocktail-party banter and make you reconsider wearing a scarf.

  • The most valuable convertible in the world is the 1930 Bugatti Royale Esders roadster, a two-seater that makes a Hummer look petite. It had no headlights because the owner, Frenchman Armand Esders, never drove it after dark. Only six Royales were made, of various body styles, and when one is listed for sale (which is only a little more often than the "Mona Lisa" goes on the block), it is usually for $8 million to $9 million.
  • There was a time when all automobiles were either permanently
    1925 Ford Model T
    1925 Ford Model T
    + enlarge image
    unroofed or convertible. The first closed car wasn’t built until the early 1900s. The first truly successful sedan was the 1914 Dodge, which had the precedent-setting “Budd all-steel body.” By that time, the Ford Model T was on its way to becoming the world’s all-time most popular roadster (despite Mazda’s claim that the Miata holds that title). The Model T's 19-year run is the longest of any single automobile except for the VW Beetle.
  • Pioneering modern dancer Isadora Duncan would have lived longer if she’d stuck to sedans. Instead, she went for a ride in a friend’s Amilcar in 1927. Her long scarf – a trademark of hers – caught in the slipstream and fouled the spokes of the car’s rear wheel, instantly snapping her neck.
  • Most auto enthusiasts will insist that the 1957 Ford Skyliner was the first car with a retractable steel top. Wrong. It was the 1937 Peugeot Eclipse.
  • The first convertible with a power-operated top was the 1939 Plymouth.
  • The most famous presidential automobiles
    1936 Ford Phaeton
    1936 Ford Phaeton
    + enlarge image
    of all time are convertibles. One is the stretch 1961 Lincoln Continental limousine in which John F. Kennedy was shot. The other is Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1936 Ford Phaeton, which was fitted with hand controls so the polio-stricken President could drive it himself.
  • In 1976, Cadillac announced that its Eldorado would be “the last convertible in America.” It wasn’t.

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