As the warmer weather sets in, convertible tops can finally retract. At present, the luxury-car market is spoiling us, and our committed skincare regimen, with a startling plethora of quick, sporting, and sybaritic six-figure droptops. And they not only come in all sorts of shapes and configurations, but also with a range of gas, electric, and hybrid options.
“Convertibles have stayed fairly consistent at about .5 percent of all new vehicles sold to consumers each year,” says Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision, a research and consulting firm that conducts hundreds of thousands of surveys with new car buyers annually. “However, those over $100,000 seem to have jumped significantly in 2020 from just a few vehicles, to 13 percent of the convertible market. That has increased to 22 percent in 2022, and has stayed there till today.”
The reason for this growth, according to Edwards’ data, is twofold. First, at the start of the pandemic, fully loaded and more profitable convertibles were among the only droptops being produced, as only their economic demographic of consumers were still actively in the roadster market. Then, based on positive feedback, this high-end segment became vibrant and stable. “Essentially, consumers didn’t know what they were missing out on, and now they look for it,” Edwards says.
These buyers break down into two main categories, psychographically, Edwards says. About 40 percent of purchasers are what is known as “Best Performers.” These are true enthusiasts who want the best in the segment. The second largest group, at about 30 percent of buyers, are the “Status Seekers.” They want people to look at them—and appreciate how much they are into speed and performance.
The latter segment is unlikely to diminish anytime soon. “These buyers are particularly loyal, often mentioning multiple purchases from the same brand or model line,” Edwards says. “This loyalty underscores the strength of brand identity and customer love within the segment,” something luxury automakers crave and would be silly to relinquish. With all of this in mind, here—in ascending order of price—are some of our favorite roof-optional rides in production.
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Chevrolet Corvette Convertible
Image Credit: Chevrolet Chevy’s “Plastic Fantastic” Corvette offers a startling mix of variants for the eighth generation of its fiberglass-bodied two-seat convertible, and they’re each so different that we feel obligated to call them all out. The Corvette eRay Convertible (starting at $113,595) is a blisteringly fast all-wheel-drive hybrid, combining a 495 hp V-8 with a 160 hp electric motor; 60 mph arrives from a stop in 2.5 seconds. The Corvette Z06 Convertible (starting at $120,795) is a focused sports car, with a 670 hp V-8 that revs like a Ferrari; with all that power driving just the rear wheels, it hits 60 mph in 2.7 seconds.
Then there’s the Corvette ZR1 Convertible (shown above and starting at $184,995)—a ridiculous track monster with a twin-turbocharged, 1,064 hp version of the Z06’s power plant, a rear wing better suited to an airplane, and enough added ductwork to crowd a plumbing van. We’ll see if it can hit 60 mph without melting its tires, and wheels.
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BMW M8 Competition Convertible
Image Credit: BMW Group BMW’s big two-door convertible has been on the market since 2019, outlasting rivals like Mercedes-Benz’s S63 Cabriolet (RIP). Its life may expire in 2026, but it perseveres into its twilight solely in compelling Competition form, in which its snarling twin-turbo V-8 produces 671 hp.
Coupled with all-wheel drive, this model variant is capable of an absolutely eruptive 2.5-second blast to 60 mph from a standstill, making the M8 droptop a performance bargain. In addition, it features minatory good looks and clean styling left over from before BMW designers lost their minds. It’s time to grab one before they’re gone. Starting at $150,975
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Aston Martin Vantage Roadster
Image Credit: Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC This new “entry-level” Aston, and its forthcoming droptop sibling, is key to proving and disseminating the brand’s upmarket/up-powered strategy. We haven’t tried the convertible yet, but the gorgeous coupe surprised and enchanted us with its razor-sharp moves, its 3.5-second rush to 60 mph, the raucous soundtrack from its 656 hp twin-turbo V-8, and its exquisite interior.
Aston has long been benchmarking the Porsche 911 here, and with this latest Vantage, it finally shows. It’s great to see Aston differentiating its lineup this way. Estimated starting price of $200,000
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Maserati GranCabrio Folgore
Image Credit: Maserati S.p.A. Maserati’s GranCabrio Folgore follows a similar recipe as the Bentley Continental GTC. With a four-place cabin and power sent to all four wheels, the model also yields a zero-to-60 mph time of around 3 seconds. But the similarity ends there. Where the British Bentley is stately and blunt in its appearance and affect, the Italian Maserati is sinuous and lithe.
As for the Folgore suffix in its name, which means “lightning” in Italian, the moniker indicates that this is the 818 hp, fully electric version of the trident brand’s sensual grand tourer (a 542 hp gasser is also available.) With an 83 kWh battery, it will go 233 miles on a charge. Starting at $206,995
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Mercedes-AMG SL 63 S E Performance
Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz AG Like the Porsche 911, Mercedes-AMG’s SL comes in seven convertible variants priced over six-figures. Again, we selected the most bahn-burning. This plug-in-hybrid version incorporates a 4.8 kWh battery, which is good for only seven miles of EV range, but adds 201 hp to the standard 603 hp V-8, allowing sub-2.5-second sprints to 60 mph.
With all-wheel drive, and all manner of seat, steering wheel, armrest, and neck heaters, along with power-enabled wind deflectors, this roadster is ideal for rollicking top-down runs to the lake house, mountain house, or beach house, in any season. Starting at $208,300
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Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet
Image Credit: Porsche AG Porsche produces seven convertible variants of its 911, each with different features and performance, and all priced over $100,000. But we favor the top-tier 911 Turbo S, which includes an obstreperous and audacious 640hp, twin-turbo flat-six engine in is lumpy rear.
Although that output is the lowest on this list, when coupled with the car’s class-leading sub-two-ton curb weight, and all-wheel drive, it’s enough to hurl the sporty convertible from zero to 60 mph in a world-blurring 2.2 seconds. At that velocity, the wind may not only be in your hair, it may remove it. Wear a hat. Starting at $245,495
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Mercedes-Maybach SL 680 Monogram
Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz AG For those Benz SL aficionados more attuned to ultimate luxury than performance, Mercedes-Maybach offers this highly branded boulevard cruiser. Tattooed on its hood, roof, seats, grille, headlights, wheels, and elsewhere with the marque’s layered-M monogram—like a giant Louis Vuitton handbag—there will be no mistaking it for any other SL.
The Maybach model also loses the SL’s vestigial back seat and receives all manner of suspension and sound insulation to deliver a cushier ride. It should be noted, however, that its 577 hp V-8 will still propel the car to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. Estimated starting price of $250,000
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Aston Martin DB12 Volante
Image Credit: Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC Aston Martin has gone upmarket, attempting to benchmark Bentley on luxury and Ferrari on performance. The DB12—the latest in the British brand’s 75-year line of DB-monikered cars—splits the difference between these two touchstones. It offers a booming 671 hp twin-turbo V-8, which is good for a 3.3-second rip from zero to 60 mph, as well as a gorgeously appointed cabin.
As for that interior, it features an all-new—and surprisingly functional—Aston infotainment interface. And it’s all complemented by the quick-retracting top that adds to the joyous rush of driving the car on mountain roads, or blasting along oceanfront boulevards. Starting at $271,825
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Ferrari Roma Spider
Image Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. With “only” 612 hp from its twin-turbo V-8, Ferrari’s Roma Spider is the least potent of the marque’s current offerings, and the least potent on this list. But when a car looks this good, it doesn’t need to show off its strength. (Its output still enables a run from zero to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds.)
Subtle and elegant, the Roma Spider harkens back to mid-20th century Ferrari convertibles, with a cheerfully sneering face, a curvaceous bodyline, and strong rolling fenders. Its soft top isn’t as insulating as the retractable hardtops found on its siblings, but there’s a simple solution: leave the top down. Starting at $277,970
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McLaren Artura Spider
Image Credit: McLaren Automotive McLaren’s near monomaniacal focus is on decreasing mass so its cars’ potent power plants push them further, faster. For the Artura Spider, its entry-level convertible supercar, that means a lightweight plug-in hybrid system that combines with a twin-turbocharged V-6 to produce 690 hp.
The Artura is the first model in the British marque’s lineup to feature its new McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA) platform, which the new 750S flagship has been subsequently built on. And while the Artura is not the “sportiest” McLaren, it still manages to race to 60 mph in just 3 seconds, and it sprints through straightaways and turns like a high-powered go cart, always eliciting joy. Starting at $281,008
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Bentley Continental GTC
Image Credit: Bentley Motors Limited Bentley’s fourth-generation, 2+2-seat, all-wheel-drive droptop has been enhanced by a plug-in hybrid power-train configuration. The setup combines a twin-turbocharged V-8 with an electric motor to yield a combined 771 hp, enough to catapult the car from zero to 60 mph in around 3 seconds. And the 21.8 kWh battery is capable of 40 miles of range.
With the top down, you can really enjoy the bombastic grumble of the exhaust note, or, if you’re in nature (or affecting stealth) the whisper rush of EV power. Either way, the hulky three-ton convertible crushes roads with alacrity and precision, and never fails to get noticed. Starting at $336,350
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McLaren 750S Spider
Image Credit: McLaren Automotive You want a sportier McLaren convertible? Here it is. Its mid-mounted, twin-turbocharged V-8 makes 740 hp, which, when combined with just 3,200 pounds of vehicular mass, results in an almost violent 2.3-second acceleration from zero to 60 mph. The rush turns every freeway onramp into the starting grid and back straight of a Formula 1 race.
With the top down, this kind of velocity also acts as temporary cosmetic surgery, which is useful as the wrinkly smile lines derived from driving this two-seat sports car may otherwise become permanent. Such standout styling and performance makes it no surprise that the 750S earned our crown as Robb Report’s 2025 Car of the Year. Starting at $337,195
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Ferrari 296 GTS
Image Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. The Prancing Horse marque has slowly been hybridizing its convertible lineup, first in the $2.2 million La Ferrari Aperta of 2016, then in the $600,000 SF90 Spider in 2021, and now in the 296 GTS. Anyone who feared that electrical integration would impact negatively on the precise driving experience delivered by machines from Maranello has, by now, been proven incorrect.
The 296 GTS may be our favorite Ferrari hybrid so far, with an explosive 819 hp capable of pushing the lively two-seater to 60 mph from a standstill in under 2.5 seconds. But it’s on twisty roads where this car’s magnetic capabilities really shine. Starting at $379,950
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Aston Martin Vanquish Volante
Image Credit: Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC Saving the best Aston for last? The new Vanquish elevates the marque’s performance chops with an 823 hp twin-turbo V-12 that allows the car to cover zero to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds, a metric that just bests that of the Vantage. But it also brings a level of sumptuousness that rivals the Bentley Continental GT, with unique and redolent textured leathers.
It is almost impossible to appreciate the allure of its carbon-fiber body in photos. The Vanquish coupe is long, low, wide, and mean, but also ludicrously lovely and delicate. We expect the forthcoming convertible to add sunshine to our infatuation. Estimated starting price of $465,000
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Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider
Image Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. The Doh-dech-chi Chi-lin-dri’s traditionalism is right there in the name, derived from the anachronistically profligate (though melodious) 12-cylinder mill making 830 hp. And as is the case with every Ferrari grand tourer produced since the marque’s founding in 1947, that engine is housed in a long hood up front.
In accordance with convention, the motor drives only the rear wheels, but is still good for launching the 12Cilindri Spider from zero to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds. A complex mechanism for retracting and hiding the small hardtop roof coexists with a trunk out back that’s just large enough to hold one’s compact luggage. Starting at $510,000
