1962-1976 American Convertibles

The number of US car lines, offering a convertible topped in model year 1967, after US production share did so by 1963. By 1955, this share had been 3%, rising to over 4% in 1957, over 5% in 1961, and over 6% in 1962, then dropping to under 6% in 1965, under 5% in 1966, and under 3% at the end of the decade. Production numbers were over 300,000 from model year 1962 till 1967, with in 1965 over a half million units.

Overall market factory-installed Air-Conditioning started at 1.5% in model year 1955, exceeded 10% by 1962, came close to a quarter by 1965, over half in 1969, two-thirds in 1972, three-quarter by 1976. The 1975 and 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible were standard equipped with Automatic Climate Control (introduced at Cadillac in 1966, earlier called ‘Comfort Control’). The non-convertible Eldorados were available with a Glass Dome Astroroof, ‘letting the sunshine in, even when closed’, or a conventional sunroof, also for the limited-edition 1972 Eldorado Custom Cabriolet (this ‘cabriolet’ became a special equipment line for the 1973 and later Eldorado coupe, which included a vinyl cover for the rear roof section; this design should give the impression of a Landau roof; in fact, the roof part could not be folded down).

Sometimes called roadsters, open sport utilities with back seats, were the Ford Bronco from 1965 till 1968, Chevrolet Blazer from 1969 to 1981, GMC Jimmy from 1970 to 1981, Dodge Ramcharger/Plymouth Trail Duster from 1974 to 1979, International Scout from 1961 to 1970, and Jeep Commando from 1967 to 1973.

A half year after the deletion of the Blazer and Jimmy convertible, the body style was revived in the spring of 1982 in the Chrysler LeBaron and Dodge 400 lines, followed by the Ford Mustang in the autumn.

model year

1962

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

AMC

American

Classic

Rebel

Ambassador

Buick

Skylark

LeSabre

Centurion

LeSabre

Electra

Cadillac

Series 62

DeVille

Eldorado

Chevrolet

Corvair

Chevy II

Chevelle

Camaro

Impala

Corvette

Chrysler

Newport

Imperial

Crown

Dodge

Dart

Challenger

Polara

Coronet

880

Polara

Ford

Falcon

Fairlane

Torino

Mustang

Galaxie

LTD

Thunderbird

Lincoln

Continental

Mercury

Comet

Montego

Cougar

Monterey

Oldsmobile

F-85

Cutlass

Delta 88

Delmont 88

Delta 88

Ninety-Eight

Plymouth

Valiant

Barracuda

Fury

Belvedere

Satellite

Fury

Pontiac

Tempest

LeMans

Firebird

Catalina

Grand Ville

Studebaker

Lark

Daytona

model year

1962

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

US production

6.3% *

6.4% *

6.3%

5.7%

4.9%

4.4%

3.4%

2.7%

1.7%

1.1%

0.8%

0.5%

0.3%

0.4%

0.2%

* calendar year

not all names of parallel series mentioned

Source: Ward's Automotive Yearbook

American Cars 1962-1977