2005 Ford Mustang GT Convertible

"Oh. My. God. That is soooooooooo cool!" She was hanging half out the window of her Tahoe. Smile beaming, hair whipping in the wind. I thought she was going to jump in for a ride--which would've been fine. Such is life when you're piloting a brilliant-red Mustang drop-top. Soon, you'll be able to get The New Mustang in convertible form.

Powertrains, equipment levels, and critical dimensions are shared with the 2005 Mustang coupe. Ford engineers further stiffened the coupe's chassis to make up for the rigidity lost in an open-topped configuration. The result is a foundation with twice the torsional stiffness of the outgoing 1999-2004 Mustang convertible's--much needed, as that car would shake itself silly over a nasty railroad crossing. Bending rigidity is up 25 percent, too. The suspension is recalibrated for a slightly softer ride, given the convertible's more cruise-oriented mission in life.

The fully lined top is covered in a rich yet durable-looking synthetic cloth and is of a Z-fold design, which allows it to fit in a smaller space than that of conventional convertible tops. The rear window is heated glass. Ford paid particular attention to managing wind noise and water sealing; the windows drop about a quarter inch when the door is open, then the glass slides up next to the seal when closed. To lower the top, release a lever at the top of each A-pillar, and hit the button. It takes about 13 seconds with the windows down. Overall weight increases by about 120 pounds over a comparably equipped coupe.

Ford did some homework and learned that clumsy, vinyl tonneau covers end up in one of two places: the garage or the trunk. So the design team took extra measures to ensure that the top bows are hidden and the front end of the top rests aft of the rear seat when the top is lowered, creating a neat, mostly covered look. If you want an even nicer place for the prom queen to sit during the parade, there's an optional tonneau cover.