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Like new Conservative leader David Cameron, coupe convertibles seek to be all things to all men.
They assert that, yes indeed, you can have it all. Can’t decide whether to favour state spending over the private sector? Vote for Call Me Dave’s Conservatives and you can share the proceeds of growth equally with the public sector. Agonising over whether to buy a coupe or a convertible? Don’t fret squire, you can have this coupe convertible. Yes, of course it does everything that a coupe or convertible will do, and more.
But it wouldn’t be the real world if you could have your cake and eat it. Coupe convertibles don’t have much space in the boot when the roof is stored. They don’t have enough room in the back to sit two normal sized people, comfortably. And the looks are compromised by the complicated engineering required to raise the roof and plunk it in the back. They are heavier than the saloons they are based on because of the bits of metal needed to make sure that the roofless body doesn’t flex and bend, and generate the dreaded scuttle shake.
And yet, CCs are in big demand and the carmakers are scrambling to bring them to market. Peugeot led the way, followed by Renault, Opel/Vauxhall and VW. Last but not least, Ford has joined the party.
Tarted up
The Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet, which will be launched across Europe in the autumn, makes a good fist of fixing all the compromises. The Focus body has been tarted up to give a more premium feel. At the front, there is added chrome, while the grille has been updated and fog-lamps added. The rear lights have been redesigned, compared with the Focus saloon. There is a chrome strip which starts just behind the windscreen, along the top of the door to the edge of the boot. Inside, the dashboard and instruments exude a quality feel, as they do on the Focus too. Ford says there’s plenty of room in the back.
“The rear seats offer comfortable accommodation for adults even in Coupe mode. This level of comfort is possible because of the hardtop’s efficient and reliable folding mechanism, which doesn’t use the rear side panels for stowage,” says Ford.
I’ve not met a complete grownup yet that might be comfortable in the back.
And then there’s the roof. The two-piece construction doesn’t look as elegant as the VW Eos’s five-piece arrangement when it is in place. Ford said the car was designed to look good with the roof up, but it does look a little ungainly. To open the roof, you just press and hold a button on the dash until the mission is complete. You repeat to put it back on. When the roof is stowed, the first flaw appears. The gap between the folded roof and metal above the rear wheel isn’t close enough; not only that, the gap appears to widen as you move nearer to the rear. It looks as though the boot might be open.
Perfect gaps
The Ford Focus Vignale, the CC concept which was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 2004, was also on show at Ford’s launch here in Sienna, Italy, and this, presumably hand-made version had a perfect, narrow, parallel gap. The Focus CCs on the launch were obviously early production examples. It remains to be seen whether this fault will be fixed as production gathers speed. And the cynic in me wonders how reliable these CC roofs will be after intensive use. And how pricey will they be to fix?
There will be three engines available initially – 1.6 and 2.0 litre petrols, and a 2.0 litre diesel. The 1.6 was not available at the launch, and, although it allows Ford to theoretically offer a (relatively) cheap £16,795 (€24,900) entry price, it is unlikely to be able to provide the kind of performance required. The 2.0 litre petrol was fine, and the diesel the best. Anyone wanting more sparkling performance and a bigger-engined CC will have to go to VW Eos’s 3.2 litre V6 and spend £28,000 (€41,700), although Ford hints that more power might be available, one day. The other competitors in this segment – the Renault Megane CC, Peugeot 307 CC, and Vauxhall/Opel Twin-Top only offer four-cylinder power as well.
Breathtakingly beautiful
On the roads in the breathtakingly beautiful countryside around Sienna, the Ford CC performed very well. The body feels solid with the roof down, and the steering is tight and accurate. The ride was supple. The quality of the interior was impeccable, as just about all Fords are now. There was no problem with the wind, with the optional windbreak in place. If you are of a nervous disposition, you will be reassured by the fact that the Rollover Protection Device will snap into action if the computer senses the car is flipping, and power the neck protector behind your head skywards by 20 centimetres/8 inches in a tenth of a second. This will also burst into action if the roof is on.
The Focus CC was designed by Ford and Pininfarina of Turin, Italy, and the car is assembled by Pininfarina. Ford was trying to suggest, cheesily, that this combination added up to a Ford in a tailored Italian suit. But, hey, why should Dave “Let sunshine win the day” Cameron monopolise all the cheesy lines? And yes he really did end a speech with that phrase.
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