I have an opportunity to pick up a Cabrio very reasonably. Runs OK but the roof is a mess, a replacement is more than I want to spend.
I was thinking of gutting it (little to no rust), adding a bar or two to stiffen things up and then slicks. Sell off the wheels, interior bits etc.
Auto-X only, I have a tow bar for flat towing. The class doesn't matter, it's for fun only.
I guess it could be a Challenger, but Murphy says when I show up with no roof it rains EVERY DAY!
Whaddaya think?
Does it come with a man purse?
Kidding, kidding...if the price is right and you can go hoon it, go for it.
A top can be had for <$200 but you'll need more than a "bar or two" to stiffen one of those up.
Top for < $200, where? If it's that easy I'll just flip it.
I LOVE rabbit convertibles and if the top seals hadn't been made NLA 15 years ago I would probably still own one. I have had 4 of them. My faves are the 85-87 "Wolfsburg editions" since they are pretty much a GTI without a top, much nicer interior and with German build quality. The weight difference is less than 200lbs. 1.8JH, 4K close ratio box, factory rear sway bar, nice leather topped sport seats, extra gauges in the console.
Even with a top in perfect shape, when it is raining they seem to direct all water from the windshield onto the drivers left knee. For years I left a plastic bag in the car to place on my leg.
They are flexi fliers though. Cowl shake when accelerating hard 80+mph was pretty fierce. The clipper kit on those later cars adds a fair bit of weight over the earlier alloy bumpers but some judicious trimming of the steel bumper supports would offset that.
oh yeah.
"man card forfeit" "bitch basket" "cheerleader mobile"
These are just a handful of the things you will hear every day. Who cares though. GTI levels of fun with 50 miles of headroom.
I had 2, a blast in the summertime..bought it beat it and sold it for 1k profit..constantly got the name calling though, especially in the Wolfsberg auto... "cabriogay"
There was a guy in the Columbus region (iirc) that KILLED the autocross with a cabby. He was silly fast in that thing.
BTW: car in pic is a cabby or cabriolet, it was the MKIII based car that was called cabrio
This is the direction I was leaning.
Well if you are leaning then for God's sake don't lean to the front left!
Stiff springs, no weight, no problem. 
mfennell wrote: A top can be had for <$200 but you'll need more than a "bar or two" to stiffen one of those up.
This^^^ - they are flexi-flyers.
BTW - [VW snob on] that is a Cabriolet. A Cabrio is a 93-up (A3 style)[VW snob off] - E36 M3 I didn't see ChandlerGTI's post before writing this.
Hey, I drive a 914, seen the gobsnobbery
914Driver wrote:
On my most aggressive cabby I found that over 375/275lb springs is when it really started to flex. Beneath that the suspension soaked up the bumps. After that you could watch the door gap change on speed bumps
In reply to Ditchdigger:
You would think on a forum that loves the miata as much as this one does, we would all be use to that by now.
I'd love to find one of those for our girls. It would have to be an automatic though. BTDT - they won't be driving stick. 
My wife has a 90 Cabriolet that we bought 4 years ago. It only had about 45k miles on it. It's her summer car and she drives from when the salt is clear until the snow falls. It's getting put into hibernation this weekend. (We are supposed to get snow tonight)
It's a 5spd. They aren't fast with the 5spds, they must be slugs with an auto.
You'll need to log in to post.
