2006 Ford Mustang Vs. 2006 Pontiac G6

Convertibles are cool. For the first six months. Then you get over looking good in the sunshine and start worrying about melanomas. The wind noise starts to bug you on the freeway. And you get sick of looking for parking spots under a streetlight so some punk doesn't turn your canvas top into something that looks like it was styled by Vivienne Westwood with a carving knife. You start wishing you'd bought a coupe. Then, early on a perfect summer's morning redolent with the smell of fresh mown hay, you fall in love all over again with the idea of top-down motoring. Damn!

A folding hardtop-convertible when you want it, coupe when you don't-sounds like the best of both worlds, and you won't be surprised to learn the idea's been around for a long time: Peugeot introduced the concept way back in 1934, the Ford Skyliner was a game attempt in the 1950s, and Mitsubishi also tried it with the 3000GT Spyder in 1995 and 1996. But it was Mercedes-Benz's SLK roadster that proved the engineering had finally caught up to the dream.

Now everyone seems to be offering the automotive equivalent of the Holy Grail: lucky European buyers can buy cc-coupe cabriolet-versions of modestly priced Renaults, Peugeots, Opels, and Fords; Volvo's c70 and Volkswagen's Eos have joined the fray; and Chrysler and Mazda have promised similar treatments to the Sebring convertible and MX-5 Miata. But does this mean saying so long to the ragtop?

To find out, we brought together Ford's Mustang convertible, one of the old-school softtops, and Pontiac's new G6 convertible, with its new-think folding hardtop, to judge them on their merits as blue-sky sportsters.

With styling cues borrowed from its iconic past, the Mustang is rich with retro appeal, while the G6, replacement for the Grand Am, has a sleek, modern look that reflects GM's cladding-free aspiration for the Pontiac brand. Both cars are in the hunt for sport-minded buyers who don't want to shell out too much money for the freedom to choose between conditioned or fresh air. Our testers are both under $30,000 when fitted with their base v-6 engines and automatic transmissions, and they both comfortably seat four. But that's about where their similarities end.