There’s Only One Convertible Muscle Car Left In The USA

What’s more American than a convertible muscle car? Well, according to the North American year-end top-sellers list for 2024, full-size pickups like the Ford F-150 and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, EVs like the Tesla Model Y, and a bunch of SUVs rounding out the top twenty. Among these, the top-selling vehicles that aren’t trucks are compact crossover SUVs, with the Toyota RAV4 sitting right at the top of the pile, followed by the Honda CR-V.

The sales of sports cars, on the other hand, continue to decline as more automakers leave the segment. In fact, the Ford Mustang was actually outsold by its electric SUV namesake – the Mustang Mach-E – in 2024, with Ford reporting the SUV to have sold 51,745 units in 2024, while the iconic pony car sold 44,003 units, the car’s worst sales year in its long history. Ford hasn’t reported the exact numbers for each model of gas-powered Mustang it’s selling, but the only one of these that really counts as a topless muscle car is the V8 Mustang GT Convertible, specifically the upspecced Premium, which is one of eight available models. Let’s take a look at the present, and future, state of the last topless muscle car available in the US.

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Cruising With A V8 And The Top Down

Note that the more impressive horsepower and torque specs listed here assume that the GT Convertible is equipped with performance exhaust, a $1,595 upgrade. The main performance difference between the manual and the automatic comes down to how fast the car can hit 60 mph.

While the late 1960s and the early 1970s, predating the Malaise era, may be regarded as the golden age of the muscle car, the truth is that a typical mid-range muscle car built in the last ten or fifteen years should have no problem outrunning any 1969 sports car. A 1969 Mustang Mach 1 gets to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds, nearly two seconds slower than an automatic 2025 GT Convertible.

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In our own test-drive review for the 2024 Mustang GT Convertible, we had high praise for the alert, responsive chassis, excellent cornering, and powerful optional Brembo brakes (a $1,995 upgrade). The golden age may be long over, but the best Mustang is a new Mustang, at least from a performance perspective.

How Well Are These Cars Selling?

While we don’t have exact numbers on the GT Convertible, we know that convertibles are not exactly having a moment right now, unless you mean a moment of silence. In the mid-2000s, convertibles made up 2% of the total marketplace, according to S&P Global Mobility, a small but respectable niche. From early 2023 to early 2024, that number was closer to 0.6%, and it’s been steadily trending down year after year.

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Muscle cars have become increasingly niche, as well. Dodge sold 27,056 Challengers and 34,754 Chargers last year, compared to 44,960 and 75,898 the previous year, respectively. The outgoing Camaro sold a meager 5,859 units compared to 31,028 the previous year.

Why Aren’t People Buying Topless Muscle Cars Anymore?

Let’s answer this question by looking at the other side of the coin: who is buying topless muscle cars? Muscle-car fans are a particular breed in the first place, more concerned with power than practicality. Take the top down and the car is even less practical. You’re giving up your air conditioning, you can’t hear your sound system anymore, and you’ve got to store everything that may get blown away in the gale at speed. In return, you get to listen to your V8 roar, you get the feeling of freedom that comes with the wind in your hair, and everyone gets to see what a big shot you are, behind the wheel of a convertible.

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For a specific type of driver, that’s a trade-off that’s more than fair. For everyone else, you’ve got panoramic sunroofs to let the outside view in without letting the outside in, and getting a good strong whiff of every exhaust pipe, chemical plant, and water-treatment facility you pass. And that’s not to mention the face full of diesel smoke with which every sixteen-wheeler will greet you. Put simply, the reality of riding in a convertible isn’t always as fun as the fantasy. Put simply, convertibles can be a lot of fun as your second car, but there’s a reason they command such a small percentage of the market at a time when most of us can only afford one daily driver.

The Ford Mustang GT Convertible Isn’t Going Away Anytime Soon

If you look back over the generations of the Ford Mustang throughout the 21st Century, you’ll find a pretty clear pattern: the Mustang tends to see a sales bump when it runs uncontested. You couldn’t buy a new Charger in the first half of the 2000s, and a new Challenger wouldn’t hit the market until 2008, so Ford pretty much commanded the entire segment for a while there. In short, the dwindling relevance and availability of the American muscle car might be everyone else’s problem but Ford’s, as the brand continues to dominate the niche with a wide range of models under an iconic name. Segment sales may be lower, but if you’re the only one selling them, it can still be a respectable number.

The surest sign that Ford will keep the Mustang, including the GT Convertible, available for the foreseeable future may be the brand’s interest in expanding the Mustang lineup. Ford was showing a four-door sedan variant around to select dealers last summer, and there are rumors of a 700-hp Mustang Raptor, being the pony car’s answer to the Porsche 911 Dakar. While the Mustang might not have sold as many units in 2024 as it did in 2023, these projects point to a certain level of confidence in the Mustang within Ford, and perhaps a hope to capitalize on what looks to be a de facto monopoly on the muscle car segment in the coming years. The very fact that Ford applied the Mustang name to its electric SUV should suggest that it still believes in the market power of the brand, and that it’s not too bummed out about the declining sales its been seeing in recent years.

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Besides all that, the bottom line is that few needs go unmet in the American automotive industry. The very existence of a Porsche 911 that can go off-road should be evidence enough that, if someone’s willing to buy it, then someone’s willing to make it. And there are still, clearly, enough buyers out there to keep the topless Mustang in business for the foreseeable future. Also keep in mind that the current S650 Mustang is a thorough update and reskin of the old S550, not a brand-new car. Ford’s hand was forced to save money in a slow-selling segment, so updating the old one like Nissan did with the Nissan Z means development costs were lower and makes it worthwhile to offer a convertible for as long as people buy it.

Sources: Ford, S&P Global Mobility.