Convertible Station Wagons

Convertible station wagons. Removable roof sections and rear windows would make them open cars in summer. They’d serve as open bed trucks, too.

By Bob Marie, Huntertown, Ind.

May 1958

Convertible station wagons or soft-tops are station wagons with a removable top, typically retractable, that allows the wagon to be driven as a car (such as a hatchback or an SUV). Most models use the same body as a hardtop station wagon. The convertible has the top on or off, depending on the weather conditions. Convertibles are typically four-door vehicles and are most commonly used in the United States.

Convertibles have been popular since the 1930s. They were considered desirable status symbols by the public and automobile manufacturers during the post-war period, when the popularity of car ownership grew and became more affordable. In the 1970s and 1980s, convertibles gradually disappeared from the U.S. market and were supplanted by sport utility vehicles.