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SUNNY SIDE UP: (From left) Mr Kelvin Chong and his Peugeot 307CC, Ms Kathryn Lam and her Mercedes-Benz SLK 280, Mr Robert Seah and his Audi TT Roadster 2.0 TSFI, Ms Claudine Ho and her Audi RS4 Cabriolet, and Ms Ong Soo Ling and her Volvo C70 are part of the Singaporean convertible brigade. -- ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG
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ELVIS Presley in a Corvette Stingray Roadster, James Dean and his Porsche Spyder, Audrey Hepburn with shades and scarf trailing in an open-top (no one remembers the car when looking at Hepburn).
Images such as those helped fuel a golden age of convertibles, when iconic soft-tops from MG, Triumph, Sunbeam and Jaguar romanced the roads and when jams were what you put on bread.
Hepburn, Dean and Elvis are long gone (despite sightings of the latter). The British car empire - responsible for convertibles we in the former colony recall - has collapsed. And the last time we checked, there are holes in the sky.
But convertibles - broadly differentiated by cabriolets (four-seaters) and roadsters (two-seaters) - are still hot, even though they remain niche products in a market overwhelmed by sedans and minivans.
According to figures from the Motor Traders Association, 272 convertibles were sold in the first five months of this year, more than six times the 44 units sold in the corresponding period in 2000.
Their share of the total car market inched upwards to 0.72 per cent, from 0.23 per cent back then. Among high-end marques, however, convertibles garner a bigger slice of the pie.
Mr Derek McCully, managing director of Aston Martin agent Top Marques, says: 'As a rule of thumb, convertibles make up 10 per cent of a given model's sales.'
The convertible 'renaissance', if you can call it that, is on the back of a relatively new phenomenon: foldable hard-tops.
As the term suggests, these are metallic or glass roofs which magically fold away at the touch of a button - thanks to a myriad of motors and clever hinges.
When the roof is up, the car takes the form of a coupe. When it is tucked away, a cabriolet or roadster emerges. Of the convertibles sold from January to May, 75 per cent had foldable hard-tops. Eight brands had this option.
Back in 2000, foldable hard tops accounted for less than 10 per cent of sales. Only Mercedes offered them.
Looking ahead, more convertibles will adopt the foldable hard-top option. Those who prefer canvas may have to look to soft-top diehards like Jaguar, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce and Bentley. The 'coupe-cabrio' trend could mean more people will be open to the idea of owning a convertible.
And there is one that suits every budget. For just over $100,000, you can buy yourself a Mazda MX-5 or Peugeot 207CC. Around $500,000 buys you a Porsche 911 Cabriolet. And the Rolls-Royce Drophead Coupe, the pinnacle of open-top motoring, will set you back $1.75 million.
Three brands dominate the convertible scene here: BMW, Peugeot and Mercedes-Benz. Each sold over 50 topless cars in the first five months of this year, and the three of them made up 60 per cent of total convertible sales.
The rarest new convertibles here are the Audi RS4 Cabriolet and the Volkswagen Eos. There is only one of each here (the Eos is a left-hand-drive, owned by an ambassador).
Do convertibles attract a certain clientele? Motor traders say the profile varies across brands. Volvo dealer SM Motors' sales manager Steve Poh notes that buyers of the $186,000 Volvo C70 tend to be 'in their late 30s or older, professionals and business people'. About half of C70 drivers are women, compared with only 20 per cent for other Volvo models.
Owners whom we interviewed cite that 'wind in your hair' feeling which convertibles offer as the top reason for buying one, although some admitted sheepishly that vanity is a contributing factor too.
christan@sph.com.sg
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