Convertible
two-seater or 2 + 2 automobile with a removable roof
A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary across eras and manufacturers.
A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving experience and can provide a roof when required. A potential drawback of convertibles is their reduced structural rigidity (requiring significant engineering and modification to counteract the side effects of almost completely removing a car's roof).
Most convertible roofs are of a folding construction, with the actual top made of cloth or other fabric. Other types of convertible roofs include retractable hardtops (often constructed from metal or plastic) and detachable hardtops (where a metal or plastic roof is manually removed and often stored in the trunk).
Terminology
Other terms for convertible cars include cabriolet, cabrio, drop-top, drophead coupé, open two-seater, open-top, ragtop, soft-top, spider, and spyder, although automakers often use these labels interchangeably depending on the market and different times. Thus, nomenclatural consistency is rare and many people now use these terms interchangeably. The term cabriolet originated from a carriage cabriolet: "a light, two-wheeled, one-horse carriage with a folding top, capable of seating two persons"; however, the term is also used to describe other convertibles.
In the United Kingdom, the historical term for a two-door convertible is drophead coupe, and a four-door convertible was called an all-weather tourer.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Convertible” is two-seater or 2 + 2 automobile with a removable roof. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Convertible, two-seater and automobile, not as a finished interpretation.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q55989. The Library of Congress control number is sh85010423. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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