The Rollercoaster Ride of the American Convertible

1976 Eldorado Convertible

At one time, almost all motor vehicles made in America were convertibles.  But by the late 1920s, convertibles were a small segment of a market for cars that was dominated by closed sedans. That is not to say that they were marginalized, for in advertising images and showroom displays, the convertible still had an important place the American scene. After all, to have the wind =suhing in your hair and the sky above gave the driver and passengers a freedom than no glass and steel cocoon could provide. But beginning in the 1960s, the convertible fell out of favor with both consumers and manufacturers. One cause often cited for this decline were the federal government safety regulations that came into law begging in the mid-1960s, particularly with regards to rollovers.  The would be a false interpretation of history however, for the government never acted on rollover issues at that time.

Let's beginning, however, by looking at the U.S. production statistics, beginning with data from 1950 and ending with 1972:

1950 -- 206,000
1955 -- 212,000
1960 -- 283,288
1961 -- 261,233
1962 -- 395,881
1963 -- 486,070
1964 -- 497,488
1965 -- 507,337
1966 -- 419,875
1967 -- 335,310
1968 -- 286,801
1969 -- 234,775
1970 -- 130,151
1971 -- 75,700
1972 -- 72,000

Thus, by the early 1970s manufacturers were jumping off the convertible ship. Chrysler and AMC were already out of making convertibles; Ford phased out full-sized vehicle production by the end of 1973. In 1976 GM made the last convertible model, the Cadillac Eldorado, which would be snapped up by car enthusiasts thinking that they had purchased an instant classic. As an aside, the once popular hardtop designs of the 1950s were also imperiled, giving way to pillared cars at GM, then referred to as "Colonnade hardtops."

Why the near demise? Of course in the 1980s there would be a resurgence of the style, but as a sideline business in which independent firms would take assembled models and convert these cars to convertibles.


The forces working against the convertible were multi-sided. They included:

1. Convertibles were hard to design on modern body shapes.
2. Consumer complaints of wind noise and water leakage.
3. The problems of convertible manufacture slowing down a fast-moving assembly line.
4. Far more miles traveled on Interstates at 70 mph, not a pleasant driving experience for drivers and passengers.
5. The widespread adoption of air conditioning.
6. The gradual rise in popularity off sunroofs.
7. The appearance of faux vinyl hardtops.
8. the difficulty of servicing top mechanisms.

Russell Baker, writing in the NewYork Times in 1971 ("Some Tears for the Rich"), gave a different account of this transition:

"What Detroit is saying is that the convertible doesn't make sense any more. The flaw in that explanation is that the convertible never did name nay sense. It s design was ridiculously dangerous. Visibility to the rear was poor with the roof up, and the roof was almost always up, either becuase it was raining or freezing or so hot that the seat cushions could have fried hominy.
the only justification for a convertible was as a pure luxury for persons who enjoyed feeling conspicuous."