Traditional Hardtops
First we’ll cover traditional hardtop convertibles. When the roof is up, in place, and keeping the inside dry and warm, it looks a lot like a regular coupe with a regular roof. But when the sun is out and you want to put the top down, it folds away into the trunk.
Often, these are luxury vehicles, so their price tags can support the expensive technology required to fold the hardtop away at the push of a button. One downside is that the large segments of roof that fold away can take up a lot of the trunk space. A trunk that on a top-up day can hold your luggage may be less useful on a sunny top-down weekend getaway.
2018 BMW 4 Series
$52,950 | U.S. News Score: 8.6/10
The 2018 BMW 4 Series has seen few major changes since its introduction in 2014. Its retractable hardtop splits into three pieces and folds away in the trunk, but a load and unload assist function raises the roof and trunk lid a bit to make it easier to get items in and out. There’s about 13 total cubic feet of space in the trunk, which is enough for luggage or even golf clubs.
The roof is fully lined and insulated, so it’s both sound- and weatherproof. The cabin remains quiet and dry, so it could be a daily driver year-round. The convertible adds more than $8,000 to the price of the 4 Series, depending on trim level, with the high-performance convertible M4 trim being the most expensive (and most powerful) in the lineup.
2018 Mercedes-Benz SL
$88,200 | U.S. News Score: 8.7/10
The 2018 Mercedes-Benz SL roadster is a top-down sports car built for driving. The “electrohydraulic vario-roof,” as Mercedes calls it, can be opened or closed at up to 25 mph, as long as you start the process while stopped. So if you hit the button at a stop light when the first raindrops hit, it will continue closing as you begin to drive when the light turns green.
When the top goes down, so does the automatic trunk separator, which makes a little more room for cargo. There’s also a loading setting that tilts the stowed roof up by 25 degrees to enable you to get more items in the trunk with less hassle.
The SL is only available as a convertible, with a base price just under $90,000. The top-level AMG-tuned SL65 supplies 621 horsepower, but you’ll pay nearly a quarter million dollars for the privilege.
2018 Mercedes-Benz SLC
$48,400 | U.S. News Score: 8.3/10
The 2018 Mercedes-Benz SLC also sports the vario-roof, and it can also operate up to 25 mph as long as the button is pressed while the car is at a standstill. The SLC offers some options to make top-down driving more amenable, even when the weather isn’t perfect, like the AIRSCARF, which blows warm air onto the back of your neck from vents in the headrest.
The roof itself is a panoramic glass hardtop, so if conditions are just too chilly even for the AIRSCARF, plenty of light will get in. Alternatively, if there’s too much sun on a hot summer day, the optional MAGIC SKY CONTROL feature will provide shade so you don’t feel like you’re driving a solar oven.
There are two models: the base SLC300 and the AMG-tuned SLC43. The smaller engine has better fuel economy; the larger engine has more horsepower and will cost about $13,000 more.
Nontraditional Hardtops
Some vehicles have tops that come off partially, or using a process that involves tools. There are lots of ways to think outside the hardtop box, as you’ll see in the next few slides.
Removable panels above the driver and passenger are known as a “targa top” or, for short, “T-top.” The style was pioneered by Porsche with the 1966 Porsche 911 Targa, but it has been used by several other manufacturers over the decades.
2018 Mazda Miata RF
$31,910 | U.S. News Score: 9.1/10
The 2018 Mazda MX-5 Miata RF is far less expensive than other retractable hardtops on this list, but it’s still a lot of fun. It also tops our rankings for both sports cars and convertibles. The RF stands for “retractable fastback,” which is truth in advertising. The fixed rear window is similar to the design of the Porsche 911 Targa, which makes it a nontraditional hardtop in our opinion.
The top opens or closes in just 13 seconds at the push of a button. You won’t find a second row of seats in the Miata, nor will you find much trunk space, regardless of whether the top is open or closed.
The hardtop is available on the two upper trims, and it adds about $3,000 to the price of the Miata. Convertible competitors at this price range don’t have a hardtop, even as an option, so the Miata RF is a good pick for budget-conscious convertible shoppers who want a car that can be driven for more than three perfectly sunny months.
2018 Jeep Wrangler
$27,495 | U.S. News Score: 7.4/10
The 2018 Jeep Wrangler, like all Jeep Wranglers since the beginning of time, has a removeable roof. This year, there are a few ways to do it, from a power-retractable canvas roof to hardtops painted to match the body panels on the Sahara and Rubicon trims. There’s also a black three-piece hardtop available for all Wranglers. The panels have been redesigned to make them lighter, with easier-to-use latches.
The Wrangler takes open-air driving further than most vehicles. The doors come off using a tool that’s included with the vehicle, so you don’t have to guess which wrench to use to take them off or put them back on. The bolts for the windshield have been redesigned too, so folding it down and out of the way is easier.
Adding the black Freedom three-piece hardtop to any Wrangler adds about $1,100 to the price. The body-color three-piece hardtop and power top are available for the Sahara and Rubicon models.
2018 Porsche 911 Targa
$110,300 | U.S. News Score: 9.4/10
The car that started it all continues to have a T-top option. The 2018 Porsche 911 Targa has subtle exterior design differences – besides the obvious removable top – that set it apart visually from the 911 Coupe and Cabriolet. The wide Targa bar replaces the B pillar behind the seats, and the rear window wraps all the way around to meet it.
The roof can be opened with the push of a button, as long as the car is at a standstill. The panel slides back and stows itself behind the rear seats. Since the engine is behind the driver, the panel doesn’t take up extra cargo space in the front trunk. Not that there’s a lot of space up there – only about 5 cubic feet.
There are a dozen ways to configure a 911, with the Targa trims falling mostly in the middle of the lineup and starting at about $110,000.
2018 Chevy Corvette
$55,495 | U.S. News Score: 9/10
There are two ways to get lots of fresh air and sunshine in a 2018 Chevy Corvette. You can opt for a soft-top convertible, but the coupe models all have a targa-style removable carbon fiber roof panel. It’s not automated in any way, so you need to park the car before manually undoing the latches, lifting it out of place, and storing it in the trunk. It weighs about 16 pounds, so you might want a second person to help out when removing or replacing it. It’s not heavy, but it is kind of large and awkward to maneuver.
The removable roof comes with every Corvette coupe regardless of trim or price. The convertible Corvette has a soft top.
The Corvette coupe’s trunk is one of the largest in the sports car class at 15 cubic feet, but when you stow the roof, it takes up most of that space.
More Shopping Tools From U.S. News & World Report
Check out our rankings of convertibles and luxury convertibles to learn more about the differences between the hardtop and the more common soft-top varieties.
If any of the hardtops on this list are versatile enough to find a home in your garage, use our Best Price Program to save on average $3,106.
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Get the Benefits of a Coupe in a Convertible
When we think of convertibles, we most often picture a soft top, either cloth or vinyl, folding back to open up the cabin to the sky. That’s the most common kind of convertible by far. But there are versions that have hardtops. When the top is up, the car looks pretty much like a normal coupe with a fixed top, but for a few telltale seams.
Opening that hardtop can be simple, like popping out a roof panel and stowing it away, or it can be a feat of engineering, with multiple panels moving, stacking, and being stowed at the push of a button. There are traditional hardtops, which open all the way, and nontraditional types, like the Porsche-pioneered targa styles and the open-air configurations of the Jeep Wrangler.
In this slideshow, we’ll round up both traditional and nontraditional hardtops. We’ll explain a little about how each one works, how it’s different from the others, and how expensive it is to add a hardtop option to some of the most popular models, like the Mazda Miata RF.