What car: fun family convertible edition

It’s going to be later this year at the earliest since I’ll have to have sold the Rampage before even considering buying something else (the Dancer’s 4-car rule) and even then affording something will be interesting depending on if things in our lives are going the way we hope. But, I figure it never hurts to think about it- so here goes. 

I want to find a convertible that meets the following criteria:

1. Has a back seat
2. Forced induction- turbo or blower is fine
3. Ideally can be had with an automatic (a certain Dancer isn’t too hot on leaning to drive a manual)
4. Ideally relatively newer- having something that I don’t have to work on all the time is always nice

Any ideas?

How about this?

Volvo C70.  It's got a decent back seat and a turbo 5 cylinder.  Most were automatics.  They made them through the 2013 model year.

EcoBoost Mustang?

John Welsh said:

EcoBoost Mustang?

That'd be my choice. Newer Saab maybe?

I love convertibles. I hate being in the backseat of one.  My suggestion would be the BMW E30. They seem affordable on the used car market.

No forced induction, but it's plenty fast enough that it doesn't need one.

MINI

SAAB

Was the G6 available with a turbo?

BMW 1 series

Without forced induction:

E30

E36

Lexus IS

G37

Mustang

Camaro

Murano crosscabriolet. 

No turbo but C124

Add Toyota Solara to the list. No forced induction but it has a nice 6 cylinder. Both the Saab and the Solara can be found for under 4K in real nice examples. Bought one of each for my two daughters first cars. Couldn’t be happier with both purchases. 

6th-gen Camaro convertible with the turbo-4 or V6?

Since an automatic is in the equation, you want a bit more power to start with. This is the same process that ended with me getting an E46 ZHP convertible for my wife (she had been driving stick for decades and decide d that her next fun daily driver would be an automatic). The added power overcomes the automatic and is actually quite fun. With 4 seats so the occasional back seat passenger can be had:

Buy it right, with receipts and you won't have to work on it much (and it's easy to do so when you need to). If you want to spend a bit more to get more reliability, then I suggest the S197 Mustang GT convertible. Mine was a 5 speed car, but the autoboxes are reliable and the V8 power overcomes any automatic softness (and a shift improver kit can make it quite snappy indeed). Mine for example:

Great suggestions everyone! (Yes, even Robbie because I’m nuts and would actually LOVE a BiTurbo convertible...)

Back seat being comfortable isn’t major concern- it’s primarily there because dog and if we have a kid, and they would be small for a while. 

I unfortunately know I can cross the Mustangs off the list- the Dancer has a prejudice against them (to quote, “Can’t you just smell the Axe body spray just looking at one?) and I know she doesn’t like the newer Beetles.  Given I already own a QX4, I have to admit the Infiniti looks like a nice option even without the forced induction. While I’d love the forced induction (its what makes the Rampage so fun, just love when the turbo spools up) I mainly just want it to be peppy and fun to drive like a convertible should be. 

Go for broke, literally:  Biturbo Spyder in Cincinnati

...

back in reality, 05-10 Mustang V6 convertible.  Relatively cheap, shouldn’t be too expensive to maintain.

Oh yeah, hope I’m on the list of people you let know about the rampage first if you get rid of it.  If I decide I don’t like my S10 when it’s done, I’ll still want a trucklet.

Wow, a running Biturbo (but admitted some carb tune issues, so not running completely well)

I seem to remember an odd fact the Convertible BiTurbo was classed as a 2 seater.  It got a padded "seat cushion" but no seat back and came with no rear seat belts.  Ya know...in case you were actually considering a BiTurbo.  Like someone actually would, ha.  

Sample photo:

Is the car for her or you?

Where did the forced induction requirement come from?  

E46.  

Although u mentioned newer as your preference there was never any better family convertibles built then the 60s to mid 70s larger American cars. Great room and actually pretty fast due to sine of powerful big torque engines and the most comfortable cars ever built. And compared to stuff like the biturbo mentioned above bullet prove.

Ashyukun (Robert) said:

Back seat being comfortable isn’t major concern- it’s primarily there because dog and if we have a kid, and they would be small for a while. \

The volume consumed by a car seat is inversely proportional to the size of the child.

Miata with the trunk converted to a rumble seat? Is that a thing? Why has someone not made that?

How about a Fiat 500c?  They’ve got to be depreciating as badly as regular 500s.  Would be fine to start with, as long as the dog doesn’t mind waiting for someone to fold a seat for him to get out, and with the Dancer’s height, you might even be able to fit a baby seat behind her seat.

There were convertible turbo Dodges, right?  That probably doesn't fit the definition of "relatively newer" though.

Driven5 said:

Ashyukun (Robert) said:

Back seat being comfortable isn’t major concern- it’s primarily there because dog and if we have a kid, and they would be small for a while. \

The volume consumed by a car seat is inversely proportional to the size of the child.

Came to say this as well. Tiny babies require seats that take up tons of space. Plan ahead if babies might be in the semi-near future, or find out the hard way when they arrive.