That's how dirt cheap these big four-seater convertibles were in the '90s (so that's not too bad)
Last week, Mercedes-Benz announced the prices of the CLE Cabriolet. Of course it was a bit of a shock again, because the big four-seater convertible from Mercedes is by no means cheap. Now we have to make some comments there. Think of intense inflation, gigantic BPM taxes and of course the fact that the CLE is an extremely complete car that actually has everything you could wish for. The disadvantage is that in addition to what you need, you can also order a lot of what you can.
Thick four-seater convertibles from the '90s
Because we also noticed: in principle the CLE200 already seems to suffice. More than 200 hp, an advanced automatic transmission and electric assistance ensure excellent performance. And despite the fact that we compare everything with the past – “everything was better then” – not everything is better of course.
That's why we're taking a look at the world of the big four-seater convertibles from the 1990s. A while ago you could read about the affordable convertibles from that period in this article, for now we look at the cars that you could buy if you were invited to become a member of the better hockey club. And long live the depreciation, you can find most copies for a fraction of the new price at marketplace!
Audi Cabriolet 2.6 E Automatic (Typ 8G)
1998
Hfl. 91,950
Ferdinand Piëch really hated convertibles. According to him, those cars were wrong in concept. The fact that an engine was hanging in front of a front axle was no problem for the stubborn German. The Audi Cabriolet is actually not a B4, but a B3. It is the open variant of the Audi Coupé B3 (which in turn was based on the 80 sedan). The car came onto the market in 1991 and was not very modern at the time.
However, the car turned out to be particularly timeless. It is still a beauty to see. Special: from 1994 you could order it with a 1.9 TDI diesel engine! The most typical engine is the 2.3 five-cylinder, but the finest is the 2.6 liter V6 that came in 1994. With 150 hp it was not a racing monster, but it was such a wonderfully smooth engine with a nice sound.
BMW 320i Cabriolet Aut. (E36)
1994
Hfl. 101,450
The favorite car of @jaapiyo. With the E36 generation of the 3 Series, BMW tried to make a little more distinction between the sedan and Touring on the one hand and the Coupé and Cabriolet on the other. As a convertible, the E36 made enormous strides. The car was more spacious and the chassis a lot stiffer. It remains a four-seater convertible (so just as flexible as Pieter Omtzigt's negotiating position).
The engine is a highlight. Yes, the 318i was the entry-level engine, but you had to have this one. The 2.0 inline six ran incredibly smoothly and vibration-free. Of course, the thing couldn't be pushed forward and there was a comical lack of torque, especially at the bottom, but with an engine that runs so well, that doesn't matter. It was also a convertible, so what difference does performance make? Precisely.
Chrysler Stratus Convertible 2.5i LX (JX)
1997
Hfl. 96,690
If you were going to rent a car in the US and you chose a convertible, you would hope for a Mustang. However, you always got this one. The Chrysler Sebring Convertible is one of those cars that does everything wrong, but is right as a four-seater convertible. Now Chrysler was a semi-exclusive brand in the Netherlands in the 1990s. Not better than Opel, but it did have more cachet.
The Stratus Cabrio looked great, in the LX version they were very complete and you had a V6 with automatic transmission! Things don't get much better in this life. It was quite a car, more than 4.90 meters! However, the wheelbase was a modest 2.69 meters, so it was mainly a lot of overhang. But still, the thing looked much more expensive than it was. In the interior you could see where the low price came from.
Ford Mustang Convertible V8
1995
Hfl. 84,890
Nowadays, a Ford Mustang with V8 can still be ordered from the dealer. However, it is not the price fighter it once was. At least, in our country (in the US a Mustang is still very cheap). At the time you could get the Mustang from Ford USA in Hessing De Bilt. He brought special Fords to our country. CO2 emissions were not a problem at the time, so you only had the regular import duties.
The engine in this case is the old-fashioned Windsor 5.0, one of the best eight-cylinders ever made. They don't break and you can keep that thing running for days with a hammer and duck tape. Power was not great: only 218 hp and the torque of 385 Nm is also not too bad. But the sound was great and so was the exterior design.
Mercedes-Benz E320 Cabriolet Aut. (A124)
1995
Hfl. 184,300
The best car in this overview. In the 1990s it was also quite simple when it came to four-seater convertibles: the Mercedes-Benz E-Class was the best. It was therefore the most expensive. The C124 generation was still built according to the adage: first the engineers make it perfect, then the marketing people can ensure that they can sell it at a profit.
And before that the starting prices were really bizarrely high. But with a Benz you knew that you would see it reflected in quality and residual value. A difference with other cars in this overview is that the E-Class is an E-segment car, not a D-segment car or a sporty coupe.
Pontiac Firebird Convertible
1996
Hfl. 99,950
Pontiac was Ewen's sporty budget brand from General Motors. Keep in mind that at GM the interiors in most cars were terrible. Can you imagine how bad things were with the Firebird? But that wasn't the point, because for little money you could drive a car that looked much more expensive.
Well, little money is relative of course. Initially, this model had a 3.4 V6, which combined the consumption of a V8 with the power of a four-cylinder. With the 3.8 V6 this was slightly better, although with 193 hp you still did not pull the paving stones from the street.
Saab 900 Cabrio 2.0 Turbo SE Aut.
1996
Hfl. 110,700
In the 1990s this was the four-seater convertible. Especially if you wanted a luxury convertible with a nice engine, but no German badge. What was special was that you could get this Saab with a six-cylinder! Yes, the 2.5 V6 from the Calibra was also available in the 900. But Saab already saw in the 1990s that a turbo engine could be much nicer.
Partly thanks to the double balance shafts and the cast iron block, it ran very smoothly. The turbo engine was quite powerful: you could easily achieve 185 hp. So on the highway you drove most of the cars on this list home. Nowadays there have been plenty of Saabs by Dion the Horse Whisperer and they run even faster.
Toyota Celica GT Convertible (ST202)
1997
€121,999
Yes, did you know that Toyota also offered a four-seater convertible in the 1990s? It wasn't mother's prettiest. Or the cheapest. Or a successful one. The latter was of course due to the first two. But hey, it's a four-seater convertible from the '90s, so it appears in the list. The GT received the 3S-GE engine, true @michel can tell you everything about it.
What we can tell you is that the Celica Cabriolet was not made by Toyota itself, but by ASC on behalf of Toyota. So the Celica Coupé that identified itself as an open car rolled off the production line in Japan, was shipped to California, converted into a convertible and then came to the Netherlands. As said: CO2 problems turned out not to exist.
Volvo C70 Convertible 2.0T Aut.
1999
€116,250
We are not smuggling, because this is a big four-seater convertible from the 1990s, but one that came very late. It all started with the Volvo 850, the car that had to give Volvo new impetus. Proof that a front-wheel drive car can drive better than a similar rear-wheel drive vehicle. The S70 and V70 were the facelift versions and the C70 the beautiful coupe.
Based on that, the C70 Convertible was created. This came on the market in 1998 and was available with two five-cylinder turbo engines: a 2.3 T5 and a 2.4T. Later there was a 2.0T with 180 hp. In principle that was more than sufficient, because the car could not do much with a lot of power. Nice and relaxed touring, this car was great at that.
This article Top 9 big four-seater convertibles from the 1990s first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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