New smart fortwo cabrio Priced in the U.S. From $19,650

Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for the cheapest convertible in the United States. Oh, wait, hold on a sec. The 2015 MY smart fortwo cabrio starts at $18,680. This makes it $1,000 and a dinner for four at McDonald’s more peppered than its predecessor. Nevertheless, this cutesy thing still is the cheapest ragtop in the United States of America.

The fortwo cabrio isn't just an open-top two-seater. It is, according to the Mercedes-Benz-owned brand from France, “three cars in one: at the touch of a button the new smart cabrio is transformed from a closed two-seater into a car with a large sliding canvas sunroof or a full-fledged cabriolet with the soft top completely open. This enables the fresh air driving experience to be adapted to the weather or the driver's mood.” Nice marketing talk there, smart, but no cigar.

Three trim levels are available at launch (passion, prime, and proxy, all with lowercase letters because Mercedes-Benz branding is confusing for no apparent reason whatsoever). The convertible canvas top can be had in black or dark red, whatever you fancy, at no extra cost. And good golly, the teeny-weeny soft top is designed to retract in just 12 seconds at any speed. Pretty neat and useful if you ask me.

The only engine available for this rear-wheel-drive lifestyle car is a three-cylinder turbocharged unit with 89 ponies and an equally unimpressive 100 lb-ft of torque. Don’t even ask about 0 to 60 mph because you’re looking at a double-digit number. If you want more get-up-and-go and handling prowess from a car in the same segment as the 2017 smart fortwo cabrio, I strongly suggest taking a look at the Abarth 500 Cabrio.