Honda introduced a new pop-top Civic this month that is technically a hardtop but acts like a convertible.
The two-seat Civic del Sol comes with a removable roof panel that lets in the sun. At the push of a button, the side and back windows disappear into the car's body.
The trunk includes a rack to hold the roof panel but still leaves storage space. In the early 1970's, the Porsche 914 offered a pop-top roof but nowhere in the vehicle to store it.
The Japanese import is aimed at buyers with an average age of about 29, Honda spokesman Kurt Antonius said. Honda expects U.S. sales of the del Sol to range between 25,000 and 30,000 a year, he said.
The car's closest competitor in the U.S. market is the convertible two-seat Mazda Miata. But Antonius said the average age of the Miata buyer is about 10 years older than the target audience for the del Sol.
The delSol S comes with a 1.5 liter, 16-valve 102 horsepower engine and the del Sol Si comes with a 1.6 liter, 16-valve 125-horsepower engine.
Base prices range from $13,200 for the del Sol S with a 5-speed manual transmission to $15,750 for the del Sol Si with an automatic transmission.
The del Sol joins the Civic sedan and hatchback in the Honda lineup. Honda sold 232,000 Civics in the United States last year.