David's Ugly Convertibles
Last year, David Tillyer submitted his Real World Dream Barn and subsequently picked up a packet of BlogNobs in the vote for the best Dream Barn of 2012.
Come 2013 and David has turned his attentions to a list of another kind - a rundown of his most hated convertibles. It reminds me of a similar blog posted by Alan Liddell where he wrote of his distate for cars with no roof. The Vauxhall Astra and Mini Cabriolet came in for some stick.
What do you think of David's little group? Hats off or hats on for these topless delights/horrors <delete as applicable>.
The other day I was stuck behind a Vauxhall Corsa (B) Convertible and it was awful to look at. The fit and finish had all the quality of a B&Q shed and none of the style. This got me thinking, Vauxhall is not the only manufacturer to have chopped the roof off of a car and make it uglier than Ann Widdecombe's stunt double so who else is guilty of this?
Vauxhall Corsa (B) Convertible
We’ll start with the aforementioned Corsa. We’ll skip past the fact that it came with a woeful 59bhp and in automatic guise reached 60mph in about a week. I hate it for the badly shaped roof and weird looking scaffolding that appears to be holding the car together. Image © H&H Classic Auctions.
Rover 100 Convertible
I quite like the 100 and the Metro that went before it. It may be the butt of a few jokes but it was a simple little car for simple motoring. In GTi guise it was a hoot to drive but the convertible had to be included here. With the roof up it is not all that bad, it is never going to win any beauty awards but for the £3.75 it cost to develop, it isn’t that bad. The problem comes when you have the roof down. When folded it is almost as high as the top of the windscreen which I’m sure isn’t great for rear visibility and frankly looks ridiculous. Image © Rover.
Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible
This is the only one on the list that doesn’t turn a nice car into an ugly car. This is an ugly car that has had some extreme plastic surgery and ended up looking worse than it did before. I suppose on the plus side it looks less like a hearse. Image © Chrysler.
Aston Martin DB-AR1
This may be a little controversial as it is an Aston Martin and all Aston’s are beautiful right? Not in this case, at least not for me. The Zagato styled roadster is based around a DB7, one of the most beautiful cars ever designed. It has been hacked at and caricatured into something that doesn’t work outside of Beverly Hills. That is probably because it was designed for the American market and we all know money doesn’t buy taste. Image © Aston Martin.
I’m sure there are many more offensive convertibles out there so please let us know in the comments about the ones that you think deserve to be on this list.
For what it's worth, the Chrysler is the only car on the list I find truly offensive. The hardtop PT Crusier is bad enough, but in cabriolet form it's made worse by the fact that you can see the person driving it. That said, at least you'll be able to identify the chap or chapess should you meet them at a dinner party. One person to avoid.
I think the Rover 100 and Corsa could be fun for one summer. Face it, the Rover looks like the perfect car for a trip to the florist and the Corsa is a perfect demonstration that the only car to look good on 3-spoke alloys is the Saab 900 Turbo. - ed
Follow David Tillyer on twitter at @DAVETILLYER and check out his new blog iPiston.
