7 of the worst convertibles ever

Bad convertibles guaranteed to spoil your summer 

The sun is giving the UK much love right now and all this heat and glorious sunshine may have got you scouring the classifieds for a drop-top. We don’t blame you. There’s a universal appeal attached to the idea of being able to get the roof down and bask in some rays as your car churns out some serious horsepower.  

However, be warned – not all convertibles are created equally. We’ve recently highlighted some of the best, but there are some absolute stinkers that’ll have people pointing and laughing at you quicker than you can get the roof back up again. Here are some examples you should probably avoid… 

Yugo Convertible

Yep, they actually made this and it was every bit as bad as the regular Yugo. Many fixed-roof Yugos started dismantling themselves as soon as they left the showroom and the top-down Yugo suffered from the same laughably shoddy build quality.  

A feeble 1.3-litre petrol linked to a flimsy four-speed manual gearbox meant it drove like garbage and despite a recent hipster revival, there’s no saving the Yugo Convertible.  We recommend Yugo buy something else. 

Vauxhall Cascada

One of the more recent entries in this list is the Cascada, which is Spanish for ‘waterfall’ and a tribute to the German songstress behind bangers such as ‘Everytime We Touch’ (probably).  

With four seats and a quiet, spacious cabin, this saloon-shaped drop-top wasn’t without its plus-points, but it underperformed in so many other areas that it just can’t seriously compete with rivals like the convertible BMW 2 Series.  

Smart ForTwo Convertible

The ForTwo is little more than a tin can on wheels and like all tin cans, the top of the ForTwo can be torn away.  

Okay, we’re stretching the metaphor there but even with its kooky novelty value, the ForTwo Convertible isn’t a wise purchase, with a rock hard ride and an interior unsuitable for any journeys longer than a few miles.  

Subaru WRX STi Convertible

A 300bhp hatchback capable of 0-62mph in around five seconds can’t be that bad, can it?  

No, this specially modified Subaru drove fine before someone chainsawed the roof off and that’s the problem – the convertible conversion looks like a hack job with the metal roof support bars still in place making the whole thing come off looking like a handbag.  

Suzuki X-90

That handbag look was practically invented by this horror story: the X-90.  

It’s hard to tell if this looks like a squashed-in saloon or a hiked-up roadster. Either way, it’s not a good look and the X-90 was even worse to drive: uncomfortable, impractical and well wide of the Toyota RAV4 it was blatantly aiming to take out.  

Nissan Murano Convertible

The drop-top Range Rover Evoque may be doing the business right now, but there was a time not too long ago where the idea of an SUV was a total no-go and the Murano Convertible was the main reason behind that. It launched as the second most expensive car in the Nissan range (behind the GT-R) and failed to deliver a drive even approaching ‘fun’.  

Chuck in poor visibility, sub-standard engineering, useless practicality and rear seats barely suitable for a pair of tiny chicks, and you can understand why no car maker dared to attempt a convertible SUV for some time.  

Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible

We’ve saved the worst until last and if you thought the Suzuki X-90 was minging then this will give you nightmares (it’s no coincidence that we included it in our eight creepiest cars ever list).  

Some may argue that the appeal of its bulbous silhouette is niche, but we say it’s just nasty; not just on the eye but on the road too. Flip down the roof and the PT Cruiser Convertible becomes so unstable that it’s almost undriveable.  Top Gear hated it enough to name it the worst car of the last 20 years.  

What are your most-hated convertibles? Let us know down in the comments.