Is the roadster dying out ?

[cj_eds]

I would say roadsters are dying out, now that the art of folding metal roofs into your boot has been mastered.
For me a roadster has a ragtop, a metal lid and it's a CC. The other requirement being 2 seats:- modern 2+2's I'd call CC's or just convertibles.

 

[aquazi]

Purpose build roadsters maybe dying.. but there are probably more roasters on the road now then ever before....

Saw a lovely white R8 roadster Sat morning with the roof down... probably one of the nicest roadsters money can buy!

 

[Dreamer]

Rag tops are on there way out. No sorry they are already out really. We are getting very close to a tin top roof that will be light enough to be negligible in weight compared to a fabric one. As long as sports car principles are alive in car manufacturer then I'm happy. It does seem though that if you want to go fast, cheaply these days you have to buy a hatch, they must be selling like hot cakes and I've never been much of a hot hatch fan I'm afraid. Creature comforts are now a bigger priority than they used to be, just ask lotus, I think an mx5 is about as pure as you'll get for a while in the new car Market.

 

[a11y]

Creature comforts are now a bigger priority than they used to be, just ask lotus

Yeah, I couldn't believe reading that cruise control is now an option on the Elise :roll:

(fair enough cruise control adds zero weight, but that's not really the point).

Going back to basics (and slightly O/T) but I don't think of the E85 Z4 as a pure sports car anyway (Z4Mand Alpina aside) - it's more suited to fast cruising. Mine was a bit out of its depth on a recent drive along some very tight B-roads, but it's great on the more open A roads. With that in mind, the E89 seems a logical progression of the Z4: more refined, more cruiser than sports car. But it's not for me. My next car - if my circumstances don't change - is likely to be something more sporty/impractical than the E89...