There was a moment in the 1980s — somewhere between MTV becoming a lifestyle and the ability to buy a house — when it seemed that there were two options for cars: a convertible and a non-convertible. Convertibles were the ultimate ’80s lifestyle flex, a way to say “I’m doing pretty good for myself and I like to have fun!”
Why the ’80s Demanded the Top Down
If you think about it, the decade was practically built for them. With all that big hair, there needed to be somewhere for it all to go. If you were gonna blast some Springsteen, rolling down the windows wasn’t enough. You needed the top down. Let’s also not forget that the country had spent much of the previous decade in a gas crisis, so we were looking for a way to make driving fun again.
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In the ’70s, if you wanted fresh highway air, you rode a motorcycle. The ’80s fixed that. This was the golden age of the drop-top — and there was seemingly something for every tax bracket (although safety was always questionable the lower you went). You had Mustang and Camaro convertibles riding alongside Porsche and BMW convertibles — the rare thing in the ’80s that didn’t separate the haves from the have-nots.
Previously, we did a deep dive on the coolest cars of the 1980s, and even switched things up with our look at the most iconic ’80s cars from TV and movies — but now we’re letting the top down a bit and putting the spotlight on those fun, summer-loving convertibles that nobody took seriously in a good way.
Big Hair, Top Down: The 1980s Convertibles We’re Still Obsessed With
Our favorite 1980s convertibles — and the exact type of person you’d see behind the wheel.
Gallery Credit: Stephen Lenz
LOOK: These 25 Cars From the ’80s Were Awesomely Cool
Below are some of the dang-near coolest cars from the 1980s — some made us stare out the window in envy, while others simply got Mom to her Tupperware party on time.
Gallery Credit: Stephen Lenz
