Top? We don't need no stinkin' top! In concept-carville, the sun shines all the time
It's not easy to produce a convertible or roadster today. Everyone wants one-touch up/down operation, coupe-rivaling silence and security, a heated-glass rear window, and we'll pass on the 'do-wrecking wind, thank you. But concept cars, most of which spend their lives on draft-free auto-show turntables, needn't be restricted by such practicalities.
Ford's Allegro II of 1967 was one such product of an "anything goes" mentality. The Allegro unabashedly melded Mustang and Cougar design cues with pillarless front and side glass, without even the slightest thought about all-weather protection. A sport bar, somewhat recalling that on the first-generation Viper, melted into a pair of fin-like flying buttresses on the back deck. The press release boasted of the Allegro II's low 33-inch cowl height and 41-inch overall height--not much taller than the company's own, ultra-low GT40 race car.
If Ford's original retractable hard top can make a comeback, as it's done on several Mercedes and the Lexus SC 430, why not the topless-roadster concept, open for business 24/7? Maybe. Just don't expect to sell many in Seattle.
In the May 1973 issue of Motor Trend Magazine:
THIRTY YEARS AGO--The blurb in the upper-right corner of this cover declared the VW Super Beetle to be "the Last Convertible." Right. Some things don't change, as our discussion of the Audi Fox as a world-class compact sedan, a title the A4 wears nicely today. Other nameplates--Chevelle, Torino, and the entire Plymouth brand--likely may be gone for good, and we hope any notion of "gas rationing" is, too. The Ford-powered DeTomaso Pantera? Now that's one we'd welcome back any time.