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A convertible (sometimes called cabriolet in British English) is a car body style with a folding or retracting roof (aka 'soft top' or 'top' in USA, 'hood' in UK).
The collapsible roof section is typically made from flexible canvas or vinyl over an articulated folding frame, although rigid plastic, aluminium, and steel have occasionally been used in elaborate folding designs. Most modern vehicles have an electrical retraction mechanism. When the top is erected it is secured to the windshield frame header with automatic or manual latches.
When the top is made of a rigid material such as steel it is often referred to as a retractable hardtop instead of a convertible; in Europe this body style is frequently called coupé cabriolet or coupé convertible.
Unlike a roadster, which may also have a soft folding top offering little protection from inclement weather, and thus called a "ragtop"; a convertible has roll-up glass windows in the sides so the entire vehicle is "convertible" to an enclosed coupé. Because most convertibles utilized a cloth type material, as opposed to a metal roof, the term "ragtop" often used as slang for a convertible.
Convertibles are usually 2 door models, only a few 4 door models exist e.g. the 1960s Lincoln Continental.
The majority of convertibles are rear-wheel drive or front-wheel drive, however an automatic four-wheel drive convertible was introduced in the early 1980s in the AMC Eagle line that featured a steel targa bar and a removable fiberglass roof section.
History in America
Lincoln Continental, 4 door convertible
Lincoln Continental, 4 door convertible
In the vintage car era, the convertible was the default body style. It was not until 1910 that Cadillac introduced the first closed-body car. A combination of weak engines and public expectation that a car was analogous to a wagon meant that steel roofs were not in demand until then.
During the 1950s and 1960s, convertibles were available from automakers in the U.S. in a broad variety of models and trim levels. Most often they were the prestige models in their respective line, such as the Packard Caribbean, Oldsmobile 98, or the Imperial by Chrysler. However, economical versions in compact sizes were also popular, including the Rambler American and the Studebaker Lark.
Later, convertibles were made less often, possibly due in part to an unfulfilled threat made in the mid-1970s by the United States government to increase rollover safety requirements that may have made auto manufacturers hesitant to manufacture cars that would be unsellable under those new restrictions. By the 1970s they had almost disappeared in the U.S. In 1976 the Cadillac Eldorado was advertised as "The last convertible in America". During this period of very low convertible production, T-tops became a popular alternative to convertibles, especially in muscle cars.
In other parts of the world and on the European market in particular, convertible production continued throughout this era, some of the more notable models being the Mercedes SL, the VW Beetle Cabriolet, the VW Golf Cabriolet and the Jaguar E-type.
It was not until the 1980s and cars like the Chrysler LeBaron and Saab 900 convertibles that the body style made a comeback in the United States. Also in the 1980s, hot hatches such as the Ford Escort XR3i and Volkswagen Golf GTI were selling a high amount of cabriolets, and in the 1990s, the Mazda MX-5 again cemented the convertible as the sports car body style of choice. Today, there are scores of convertible cars offered by nearly every manufacturer.
Cabriolet
A cabriolet is a light, two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse, with a folding calash hood of leather, seating two persons facing forwards, one of whom is the driver. It has a large rigid apron, gracefully upward-curving shafts, and usually a rear platform between the C springs for a groom. The design was developed in France in the early nineteenth century. The vehicle quickly replaced the heavier hackney carriage as the vehicle for hire of choice in Paris and London.
The 'cab' of taxi-cab, as in "Hansom cab", is a shortening of "cabriolet". The Hansom is a cabriolet with the cabman driving from a high seat at the rear. By extension, "cab" is used for any similar light closed carriage, or any carriage for hire, whether closed or open and drawn by one or two horses (hackney carriage). A surrey resembles a cabriolet.
Nowadays, a cabriolet (or cabrio) is an automobile that has a removable or retracting roof and rear window, known more commonly as a "convertible", resembling a coupe in appearance and capacity. Soft tops are usually made of vinyl or canvas, and folding plastic rear windows are common. Owing to the issue of body flex, cabriolets almost always have only two doors.
