I'm just here for the argument.

Inspired by seeing a 350Z droptop today:  Convertible cars are, with one exception, always uglier than the hardtop.  The one that is prettier is because the designers did an awful job on the tin top.

Discuss.

I agree!

Are first generation Mustangs an exception?

I’ll take the convertible over the hardtop any day. (I’ll take a fastback over both though)

ebonyandivory said:

Are first generation Mustangs an exception?

This was my first thought! Even the foxbody mustangs looked good in a convertible. Personally I like them better than the hatches. 

Thinking more, I think most 60's era cars had styling that lends themselves well to convertible tops. 

Into the 70's more cars had rooflines that flowed more into quarter panel toplines making the convertible models look more like an afterthought. 

My father's 1976 Eldorado and the 1975 Impalas were better as convertibles.  Many convertibles in the '60's and early '70's looked better than the coupe versions.  Hardtop cars in the late '60's looked great, though.  

I agree totally that newer convertibles are usually uglier than the coupe version.  No such thing as a pillarless hardtop any more.  

It really just depends on the car to me. I am in general not a huge fan of convertibles so I am a bit biased towards the tin top cars. 

Since the advent of A/C and Heat, drop tops are pretty worthless 98% of the time. Looks are secondary. 

I thought that you were going to mention a Ridgeline! Generally cars that were designed as convertibles first look better than hard tops that later developed a ragtop version. 

In reply to ebonyandivory :

No. To my eyes that car looks at least 10x better as a hard top than a soft top.

The only exception for me would be this.

Although I'm not sure that applies as the car was a roadster and the top was an afterthought.

Z3 anyone?

I love the Z3 coupe. 

In reply to Stampie :

agree

Toyman01 said:

Since the advent of A/C and Heat, drop tops are pretty worthless 98% of the time.

I'd argue the opposite. The advent of A/C and heat did almost as much to make drop tops more useable, as they did for tin tops.

The MGA is an exception. The hard top is just ugly, while the drop top is beautiful 

C7 Corvette looks better as a convertible.

IMO, unless designed from the get go as a pure roadster, the coupe version almost always looks better.

In reply to Nick Comstock :

Oh, that's just amazingly ugly. 

You're smoking crack.

Both nice, the roadster is better hands-down.

Oh yes, add a roof to perfection...said no one ever.  

In reply to pinchvalve :

Wrong on both counts. E-type coupe and MGB GT are icons that prove the OP's point.