This class features an interesting mix of hard-core performance models and more luxurious touring convertibles. Our Best Buys give you a little of both worlds. The Chevrolet Corvette is fast, comfortable, and reasonably affordable. Unlike previous models it doesn't beat you up with a hard ride, and it will cruise quietly at highway speeds. Our other Best Buy, the Mazda Miata, is a bare-bones roadster with few frills and average acceleration, but for weekend fun on a twisty back road it's hard to beat.

If you don't mind spending a few more bucks, we recommend you take a look at the BMW Z3 and Mercedes-Benz SLK. Both are two-seat convertibles. The BMW is more sporty and the Mercedes is more luxurious.

If you are interested in bang-for-the-buck our Budget Buys include the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang. At any given price or equipment level the Camaro is a faster car, but the Mustang might be a little more user-friendly as a daily driver.

Firebird has been on lengthy sales slide, well behind sister ship Chevrolet Camaro and even further behind the Ford Mustang. All were born in the 1960s as sporty compact "ponycars," and are the only members of that rear-drive breed to survive with anything like their original character and performance. Interestingly, Firebird year-to-year sales took a modest 6 percent spurt in calendar 1999, only to give it back in the first four months of 2000. Though any gain, however fleeting, might hearten Firebird fans, the '99 total was still less than 34,000, versus nearly 41,000 Camaros and nearly 167,000 Mustangs.

With all this, plus whispers from General Motors suppliers and other sources, Firebird seems almost certain to join Camaro in automotive Valhalla after the 2002 model year. However, talk persists that it may be spared to give Pontiac an exclusive with the GM family, leaving Corvette to be Chevy's lone performance icon. The only trouble with that line of thought is that the current Firebird/Camaro, born 1993, is now overdue for replacement, and building a new model with a unique platform and powertrains would be economically wasteful at Firebird's current sales level.

The bottom line? If Firebird continues beyond '02, it will probably be as a specialty version of a higher-volume Pontiac. Right now we think the midsize Grand Prix the most likely basis for such a car, especially as it will be redesigned for the 2003 model year, which would dovetail nicely with Firebird planning. Still, none of this can be confirmed. Indeed, GM may already decided to axe Pontiac's ponycar for good. We'll keep you posted.