Business: Topless Craze

Return of the rag roofs

As love affairs go, America's passion for the convertible has been low key but enduring. From the dawn of the auto age, the sleek stargazing ragtops have symbolized youth, fun and sun. Generations of couples romanced at drive-ins in their back seats, while film starlets and Presidents were photographed proudly sitting behind their steering wheels. But convertibles never accounted for a large slice of Detroit's market; and they finally were killed by air conditioning, increasing vandalism and high-speed driving on interstate freeways. One by one, the big automakers stopped building them. The last U.S.-made convertible, a special...

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