BMW 325i Convertible Vs. Pontiac Firebird Formula Convertible

Few buyers carry a 4x8 piece of plywood into the dealer showroom to test whether it will fit into the trunk of a Pontiac Firebird Formula Convertible or BMW 325i Convertible. A convertible is about open highways and a tanned member of the opposite sex at your side, not hauling sod or carpooling. By that standard, both the Pontiac and the BMW are wildly successful. We would have made this a threesome, but the new Toyota Celica convertible was not available at the time of our test.

Never mind its Canadian assembly; the raucous Formula Convertible is 100-percent U.S. of America. From the tip of its 275-horsepower, 325-pound-foot, 5.7-liter LT1 V-8, through its six-speed manual transmission, and on to its solid, Positraction rear axle, it's stuffed with positive American male essence. Heck, given half a chance, the car would start itself up and go watch Wrestlemania. It carries the banner here for America, since it'll outrun even the Mustang Cobra Convertible. But from a lumens-per-dollar standpoint, it's as good as a dead heat between the domestic pony drop-tops.

Toplessness exaggerates the sensations that make V-8 Firebirds and Camaros appealing. The staccato exhaust is more vivid, the acceleration (0-60 mph in only 6.1 seconds) feels even quicker, and the car is even better looking. Carrying only 90 pounds more than the coupe, and the same optional Goodyear Eagle GS-C tires, the droptop's reflexes are as rapid and its handling as phenomenal. When the power-operated top is down and its nettlesome three-piece plastic boot is in place, everything about the Formula Convertible is improved over the coupe.

It's when the Formula's leak-free, lined top is up that cowl shake is apparent and the lack of rearward visibility becomes a real nuisance. Although the rear window is constructed of heated-element, distortion-free glass, it's tiny, and there are no side windows behind the doors. The driver can't see behind the car very well.

With the structural heft of the Wittenberg Cathedral door, everything in the BMW 325i Convertible bespeaks European refinement and elegance, and nothing quivers noticeably. Each stitch and seam in the leather upholstery of the orthopedically dang-near-perfect interior is razor sharp, and even the plastic is fine-grained. The 2.5-liter DOHC 24-valve inline-six produces a silken 189 horsepower, with 181 pound-feet of torque across the middle of its rev range, and the five-speed manual transmission glides from gate to gate. With a 7.9-second 0-60 time, however, it isn't the strip blisterer the Pontiac is. Like all BMWs, this one displays truly exceptional handling manners.

The BMW's leak-free, fully lined top features one-touch operation with a nifty automatic hard boot that tidies the body's lines. Unfortunately, the BMW's plastic rear window makes everything directly behind the car look as if it's about to segue into a dream sequence from a Frank Capra movie.

Those who want a BMW convertible probably wouldn't consider a Pontiac, and those attracted to the muscle-bound Poncho are just as scornful of the German. Although radically different in character, both cars are fine rides. But if money is tight, (and for most of us it usually is) it's hard not to pick the $25,629 Pontiac over the $39,600 BMW. With the cash you'd save, you could buy a Firebird coupe as a companion.