2002 was a convertible year
01/21/2024
A good 20 years ago, convertibles were still in demand. You quickly come to this conclusion when you leaf through the freshly digitized 2002 issue of "auto motor und sport " in the Zwischengas magazine archive.
For example, the BMW Z3 successor Z4 was presented .
And the Ford Streetka also made its first appearance.
In August 2002, the Porsche Boxster, the Honda S 2000 and the Mercedes-Benz SLK 320 had to compete against each other . They were almost all equally fast (0-100 km/h in 6.2 to 6.9 seconds, top speed 241 to 253 km/h), the differences in price were greater. And the weaknesses that caused the S 2000 to lose out at the time (uncompromising, limited space, harsh suspension, low-torque and extremely loud engine) are unlikely to bother any youngtimer enthusiasts 22 years later who still own the cheapest sports car of the three at the time.
Under the title "Much enemy, much air", four attractive convertibles were compared , namely the Aston Martin DB7 Volante with the BMW Z8, the Maserati Spyder and the Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG (photo collage above). And no, the BMW Z8 did not win the comparison test, it was even beaten by the Maserati.
But there was also a lot to read about closed cars, such as the first test of the Mini Cooper S or the driving report with the 645,000 euro Ferrari Enzo.
And then the ams test drivers also got behind the wheel of the VW Golf R32 with a 241 hp six-cylinder engine.
Yes, that's right, 22 years ago, even compact cars were still allowed to have free-flowing six-cylinder engines, something that is no longer to be found even in the luxury class.
And yes, back then the VW Phaeton did its last test laps in the Arctic Circle before going on sale, nota bene with 12 cylinders under the hood and lots and lots of buttons on the wood-planked dashboard.
Yes, you get really nostalgic when you leaf through the 26 issues of "auto motor und sport" from 2002
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