I was looking for a convertible, but I judged all of them by these criteria:

1. Was it well made.
2. Did it shift and handle well.
3. Did it look good.
4. Did it have outstanding brakes.

A great engine was icing on the cake.

In my case the S2000 was number one in all my criteria. I wanted one ever since I saw the conceptual drawings in 1995.

Many people have asked me if I would prefer the new 350Z and my first answer is the Z is not a roadster!
Thus a convertible top does matter a lot to me. Then they ask me if I would want a Z3 and I inform them that the chassis of the Z3 is two generations old (back to my handling criteria). Finally they say what about the Boxster and I say the Boxster S is a great car, but I sleep better at night knowing I saved $20,000 by not buying a Boxster S.

Just my humble opinions.

 

I was actually NOT looking at the S2000 because it was a convertible. I had owned a Z3 and loved the top down aspect didn't like driving with the top up. I spent a lot of time with the top up because it was my only car.

I was going for the 350Z because it had a fixed roof, but my wife started bugging me to look at convertibles.

I now have the hard top and most of the benifits of a fixed roof car, great for fall and winter when I don't put the top down anyway. But when the weather warms up I can enjoy the top down motoring.

 

Roadsters only for me.

 

I got spoiled by going to the beach in my TR-6 (when it actually would go). This car had to be a roadster!

 

I would have bought my "S" even if were only offered as a hardtop coupe. The performance for the price and also it being a Honda (reliability) was my deciding factor. The fact that it is a ragtop is an added bonus. I've never owned a convertible before and from now on there will always be room in my garage for one.

 

For me it was the 2.0L, 240-hp, 9000rpm, 6-speed, great handling, and price. That it's a convertible was a bonus (a huge bonus really), but it wasn't the reason I bought the car. But, I drop the top every day on the way home unless it's raining. And I still have the original 9/99 Autoweek issue that made me want to buy one.

 

For me it had to be a roadster.
I was considering a Miata, Triumph Stag (from the 70s), or a 2nd hand Z3.
Couldnt make up my mind - none was very exciting.
Heard about the S2000, took a test drive, bought a new one the same day.
Only learned later all of the great things about them, including this board.

 

I was in the market for "sporty" coupes and had more or less decided on getting an Arctic Blue RSX Type S because I liked Honda reliability and the availability of parts...

The best OTD price for a new one of these was $24.3k...I figured I might as well check out some used S2000's since S's of the used variety were being sold for around $26k at the time.

Anyhow, I testdrove one, fell in love, paid $25.1k for it and haen't looked back since

 

So there is some truth to my theory!

It seems like a tiny bit more than half of you were looking for a roadster, while the rest were interested in all the other good qualities of the S2000. I thought of the convertible top as an awesome "bonus." One reason I forgot to mention: I was looking for a sports car at the time I purchased the S2000. It's common knowledge that fixed hardtop cars have greater structural rigidity than convertibles, so I was worried about body flex. However, once I hopped into an S2000 and took it for a spin, I found that the chassis was VERY solid. That test drive did it for me.

To think about it, I used to remove the t-tops from my Camaro Z28 all the time. So maybe, like others mentioned, I really enjoyed driving open-roof cars. Would I still buy an S2000 if it was a coupe? Hell yes!

 

This is sort of related to a discussion that is going on in another thread. I wonder how many of us who only wanted roadsters grew up with the old English roadsters? How many who wanted roadsters never had one before.

I know for me, I had a few old roadsters when I was younger and I had to have another one. Nothing comes close to top down driving! I was bitten by the bug years ago.