“Someone mentioned the Camaro and Firebird, but honestly if you’re over 30 you’ll probably feel silly in one of these-not to mention the rear seats are too small for passengers unless they’re about the size of watermelons.”
Sounds just like a Mustang, doesn’t it?
That’s only true for the really old boxy-style generation Celicas (I think pre-86 or so). The later Celicas came from the factory as convertibles and I think would be a very good option if they can find a well preserved example of one.
To the OP, would an old classic convertible fit your needs? You can often pick up a 60’s or 70’s land-barge convertible in reasonably good shape for a few grand if it’s not a model that’s in demand with serious collectors. They’re definitely not sporty like your Miata and not necessarily practical as an every-day daily driver due to higher maintenance requirements and low fuel economy, but they can be a blast to go bombing around in during a nice summer day.
Thanks for the update. I had heard additional conflicting information regarding whether the Celica convertibles were after-market or factory, but your information seems to be correct. My son drives a 1992 Celica hardtop and its looks still hold up against most of today’s car designs. A convertible version of that year, or thereabouts, would be a nice choice.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder… not a bad looking car. Appears to have a very small rear seating area, as do many of the above mentioned models. Anyone here have any experiences with this one?
Still looking huh? The mitsubishi Eclipse I am very familiar with, so I should be able to fill you in. This is really a 2+2 car, or in other words it’s a two seater with two very small seats in back for insurance purposes. A child would find it uncomfortable, so if you’re looking to put friends back there over 10 years old forget it.
As for reliability it ranges from poor to average depending on the year. The 1997-1999 models (second generation) are notorious for problems with their turbo models that should be avoided at all costs. The third generation cars (The 2001+) cars are OK in the reliability department, but not great. The V6 models are the cars to have. Unfortunately they suffer from lots of road and wind noise and will ocasionally bite you with repairs. I consider Mitsubishi to be the worst of the Japanese car manufacturers in terms of quality and reliability, which seems to be reflected in their resale value to an extent.
Keep in mind that a car that has an initially low price can wind up being quite expensive when you have to deal with repairs over the course of ownership. I think the Solara is still the best bet for a reliable 4 seater that can last for many years. Past that a Mustang is affordable to own and actually pretty reliable.
Thanks Dave-
Yes, still looking and probably will be for quite some time (unless a deal we can’t pass up comes along, like when we bought the Miata!) But I appreciate all of the input. Now that we’ve started looking we’ve noticed a LOT of Mustang convertibles on the road, plus a number of others that we never would have paid attention to before. The Solara is probably still our first choice, but we just don’t see too many used ones listed yet. IF money were no object… the BMW 645ci (we saw one in a parking lot with the top down) is a very nice looking car.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and advice!
Tim