Throughout the history of the automobile, one type of car that American consumers have always loved is a big, huge, long convertible. Back in the early 1900s basically everything was a convertible or offered as one, and in the '40s, '50s and '60s many of the most iconic models were convertibles like the Chevy Bel Air and Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. Even in the Malaise Era and forward-thinking '90s there were some big droptops on sale. But for the past couple decades, truly large convertibles have been
getting rarer, the only ones really being high-end stuff like the Bentley Azure and Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead.
It's been years since either of those cars were on sale, though, and remaining convertible models like the Bentley Continental GTC and BMW 8 Series aren't really that big. Don't worry, there are still a couple of convertibles on sale that are genuinely long, but they might not be what you expect: pickup trucks, one of which is electric.
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Way Longer Than Anything Else
That's right, the Jeep Gladiator and GMC Hummer EV are the two longest convertibles on sale, and number three isn't even close. Is this cheating because a pickup bed inherently makes a vehicle longer? That's not for me to decide. You may not have even realized either of these trucks are convertibles, either. Lower-end Gladiator trims have a manually folding cloth soft top, but most of the ones you see likely have the available hardtop panels — and, of course, you can take the doors off and flip the windshield down. The Hummer has four removable roof panels that can stow in the frunk and a removable front I-bar, and the rear window can be rolled down. I think that counts as a convertible for sure. Both the Jeep and GMC have four doors and a five-foot bed.
At 218.0 inches long with a 137.3-inch wheelbase, the Gladiator just nabs the top spot over the Hummer, which is 216.8 inches long with a 136.0-inch wheelbase. Both are much longer than their Wrangler and Hummer SUV siblings. At 79.1 inches the Hummer is 4.1 inches taller than a base soft top Gladiator, and the GMC is a massive 12.9 inches wider. The next closest convertibles in length are the Maserati GranCabrio Folgore (195.5 inches long), Bentley Continental GTC (192.7) and Aston Martin Vanquish Volante (192.5).
Almost As Long As America's Best
The Gladiator is not even three inches off the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead, which came in at 220.8 inches long, and both it and the Hummer have the 212.6-inch-long Bentley Azure bested. We could technically count the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail as having the trucks beat, as they are 226.8 inches long and the third of the three hasn't been finished yet, but it's not technically "on sale." Rolls' Droptail is only 208.7 inches long (and also sold out), and the Spectre coupe measures in at 214.7 inches long, so if Rolls wants to beat the pickups with a potential Dawn replacement, it'll need unique bodywork to make it even longer.
Of course, all the mid-century convertibles were even longer than the Gladiator and Hummer EV. The 1959 Cadillac Eldorado, for instance, came in at 225 inches, nearly as long as a current Rolls-Royce Phantom SWB, and '59 Lincoln Continentals are a few inches longer still. The Buick Electra 225 was so named because of its 225-inch length. There is one potentially upcoming droptop that could beat the trucks: The Cadillac Sollei concept, revealed last year as a two-door convertible version of the Celestiq. At 217.2 inches long the Sollei has the same dimensions as the Celestiq, but I have faith that if Cadillac puts it into production its design team could make it even longer.
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