You can finally buy a Dodge Challenger Convertible

For Challenger fans, the announcement is bittersweet. It comes as part of Dodge’s celebration of the last production year of the Challenger and the closely related Dodge Charger 4-Door Sedan. Both models will be phased out after the next model year as Dodge prepares to sell electric vehicles in the future.

In the past, if you wanted a convertible Dodge Challenge, you had to find a custom shop to remove the roof and do some extra work on the body and frame. Now Dodge is streamlining the process. The Dodge Challenger, like the Charger and Chrysler 300 sedan, will not be built as a convertible at the Ontario, Canada plant. Instead, Dodge contracted his car customization shop in Florida called Drop Top Customs to turn his coupe hardtop into a convertible.

The Challenger is a bigger, heavier car, despite its similarities to the Mustang and Camaro. About 10 inches longer than a Ford Mustang. The Challenger shares much of its underlying engineering with the Charger and the Chrysler 300 four-door sedan.

Converting a hardtop car into a convertible involves more than just cutting off the roof. In most modern cars, the roof provides some of the structural rigidity, preventing the body of the vehicle from flexing or bending during bumps and turns. Once the roof is removed, the rest of the body should be provided with additional bracing to prevent unwanted twisting. Drop Top Customs’ Jeff Moran said the company has been working with his Dodge to build convertibles since 2008, but a new dealer ordering process has streamlined the purchase. Moran said the company can build up to 5,000 convertibles each year.