How come GM never made a convertible 2nd gen Camaro or Firebird? I just that was strange. If they did make them, someone show me one.

 

There wasn't any so you won't find a pic of one.

I suppose it wasn't finacially profitable for them to make them at the time. They were having trouble with emissions at the time, so mabye making a heavier vert would've only hindered the already weak perfomance of them............I'm just guessing here......

I believe the verts came back in 87 or so.

 

I've seen one, but it was a custom job. The car was white mad the interior was black leather. Looked OK, but I see why they were'nt produced

 

i have seen 2, both on tv.

one i remember for sure was on dukes of hazzard. some chiks drove it. i liked it.

 

they were made by outside sources just like the first thirdgen convertibles. they arent very common. ive only seen pictures and ive seen a lot of second gen pics. ive only seen pontiacs no camaros.

 

Actually I read an article on this somewhere, the reason supposedly was that they made it, but the car had to give up the back seat, and the Corvette engineers didn't wan't Chevy to have another 2 seat sports car, so the trade off was T-Tops later in the run of the 2nd Gens...

 

I've actually seen 2 of them in person before. Both were Firebirds as I recall, and late 70's style? I never saw either one with the roof down, but IMO, they looked fugly, and that's probably why they were never built! Maybe because it's something I had never seen before, I was just like "WTF?!"................so YES it's been done, but NO, it looks like crap. Leave 2nd-gens as hard-tops or T-tops only.

 

I thought it was because in the 70s the American auto industry was starting to take a hit, and all the automakers cared about was making fuel effecient cars that complied with the new emission laws. It was really a time for fun cars. I don't think too many car manufacturers at all made convertibles in America. Was there even a convertible offered by Detroit in the 70s? I was pretty sure that it was Chrysler's Lebaron that brought the convertible back to the scene. I am not 100 percent sure on this info though.

 

convertibles were stopped because they wouldnt pass roll over tests. the vette was availible in a convertible til 75. after that they didnt come back til like 87 or a couple years later. but aftermarket companies didnt have to follow those guidelines. so aftermarket conversions were availible for a price of course.

 

There's 2 in my city...a 1980 Z28 convertible and about the same year firebird convertible.

You don't really know what to think of them when you see them because it's so different. Personally I'd rather take T-tops over the convertible.

Here's a page with pics: http://www.kellerconsulting.com/Camaro/index.htm

 

GM did not make or approve the making of a conv. fbody during the 2nd gen life span. They stopped making them in '69 and didn't start again untill '87 when ASC started converting Camaro's to 'verts for dealers. All you needed was $5k above the cost of your Camaro and your dealer could order it from ASC. Found that out when I was reading about my 87

Some people have converted 2nd gens to verts, but if you see what they look like you will understand why GM didn't make one.

 

I remember it pretty well: The domestic car market quit making ragtops when GM ceased production on the 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. After the '76 ragtop was dropped, there were essentially no more convertibles in the domestic car market until the 1982 Chrysler Lebaron, which was a sellout for that year. The reasons were purely economic: Ragtops were just not selling! Convertibles were quite popular in the sixties, but lost popularity in the seventies when people started buying smaller cars.

However, after the loss of the '76 Eldorado convertible, people (like myself) began lamenting about the boring state of automobile choice in the american car market. Hence, the humble K-car Lebaron from Chrysler, fresh from the teetering brink of bankruptcy, made a huge gamble with the convertible option, and saw it fill six years of pent-up demand. Although the Ford Mustang had a convertible option in 1980, the Lebaron, with something like 25000 units sold in '82, really put the ragtop back onto American streets. I think General Motor's response to the convertible market was the 1984 Cavalier, which continued selling until the end of the Cav in 1994.

 

They actualy made them in 1979 and 1980. They produced about 500 Z28 Camaros and they also produced about 500 Firebirds and Trans ams. They were after market Convertibles done in Port Sanilac Michigan. I actually have the brochure that they had for ordering one. I have a 1980 Camaro all original that I have a convertible top for and will be converting it this summer. If anyone has any more information I am very interested. I will be fabricating it all myself. My plans are to not only make it a covertble but also a removable hard top. I am looking forward to getting started. If you care to see some pics just feel free to email me. kcstamand1@hotmail.com

 

convertibles are for women....unless it's a Vette or Solstice.

 

Thanks for informing me. All this time I thought I was a guy. What makes it ok for a Vette to be a convertible? The Solstice is kind of an effeminate looking car, so why is that ok either?