Taking the roof off a car is a fantastic marketing tool that manufacturers love to use.
It usually gives cars a sporty and classier feel – but sometimes that’s just not the case. While we’re not saying that every convertible is bad, there have been some shocking convertibles over the years. It certainly doesn’t help that the cars they are often based on are usually pretty lousy, too.
Here we take you through the worst ten from recent years.
1. Chrysler PT Cruiser
The PT Cruiser Convertible is probably the worst convertible to hit the market ever – an achievement in itself. The PT Cruiser was a vile looking car in itself, but removing the roof made it even worse.
It wasn’t helped by the fact Chrysler had to add a cross bar to help hold up the roof – something that hadn’t been seen for at least a decade before. In short, it was a shocker, and wasn’t helped by the thirsty engines offering mundane performance.
2. Peugeot 308 CC
The 308 CC has to go down as one of the tubbiest convertibles ever made. Wide wheel arches can often make a car look muscular, but in this case it just made the 308 look plain fat, and it wasn’t helped by some lacklustre engines.
For a relatively hefty convertible, it was also impressively impractical, with near-useless rear seats and a poor-sized boot. Its comfort is probably its only redeeming feature.
3. Ford StreetKa
The Ford Ka was a quirky car for Ford, and proved a big hit with first drivers and city dwellers. Ford tried to maximise on the Ka’s success by taking the roof off it, which ultimately just made it look odd.
Time hasn’t been kind to the StreetKa either, with the convertible (and the hatch) renowned for plagued with rust issues. It’s definitely one to avoid unless you can find a rust-free example for pennies – but good luck with that.
4. Range Rover Evoque Convertible
It might be a bit harsh to include the Range Rover Evoque Convertible in this list – it is quite a good car after all – it’s here just because Land Rover decided to fill a niche that didn’t exist, or shouldn’t have existed.
It’s actually not bad to drive, but you just can’t wonder why anyone who bought one just didn’t buy the handsome hard-roofed version. The convertible is slower than the standard car, and also has a stupidly high list price, too.
5. Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet
We would love to tell you that the Range Rover Evoque Convertible was the first SUV convertible, but unfortunately it wasn’t. No, that accolade has to go the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet.
When a concept of the Murano Convertible was first revealed in 2010, everyone just thought it was another ridiculous concept that would never make production. But it did, somehow. Thankfully it was never officially brought over to the UK, but knowing that it actually exists still makes us shiver inside.
6. Renault Megane CC
We could have realistically included any of the Megane CC generations in this list, but we decided that it had to be the second-generation convertible here. The second-gen hatchback model was famed for its quirky rear end, but even that was lost on the convertible.
Instead, this was replaced by a flat boot and an unnecessarily big aerial. The heavy folding glass roof also had a negative effect on performance, resulting in a mundane convertible. It does serve as a relaxing convertible, if that’s all you’re after, though.
7. Lexus IS Convertible
The fact there is very little to say, neither good or bad, about the Lexus IS Convertible is pretty much all you need to know about it. It’s one of those cars that people ask, “Did Lexus actually make one?”. And yes, it did.
The Lexus IS saloon is a refined and luxurious cruiser, and the convertible version was no different. Unfortunately for Lexus, no one ever really ever bought one which seals its fate in this list.
8. Vauxhall Astra TwinTop
The fifth-generation Vauxhall Astra will probably go down in history as one of the dullest cars ever made. The convertible TwinTop certainly looked better than the hatch – but that doesn’t say much.
The value of a car is usually a good indication of a car’s popularity, and the fact that an Astra TwinTop can now be picked up for pittance shows just how un-loved this Astra convertible really was.
9. Nissan Micra C+C
You may have noticed a theme in this list so far with convertible versions of mid-2000s hatchbacks appearing prominently. It wasn’t a good era for convertibles to say the least, and the Micra C+C is just another one from this period.
Richard Hammond once famously drove a pink one on Top Gear with a paper bag over his head, which is really all that needs to be said for the Micra C+C.
10. Citroen C3 Pluriel
The bubble-shaped Citroen C3 was a pretty poor attempt at a car in itself. You’d like to think that the bosses at Citroen would have had enough sense to leave it at that, but no, a convertible ‘Pluriel’ version was launched.
Featuring the most complex roof design ever fitted to a car, where you have to remove the roof bars before realising there is nowhere to actually store the wretched things, it should have been canned before the first one even drove off the production line.