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 Mercedes-Benz SLK. The Mercedes offers an interesting mix of performance and luxury. It also has a retractable hardtop, making it more of an all-weather car.

Dodge unveiled the much-anticipated second-generation Viper at last January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit--a full 18 months early. Though full details weren't released, the '03 model will initially be sold only in RT/10 roadster form, though Dodge says that a new GTS coupe is on the way, and probably sooner than later.

The new Viper is about the same size as the original, and little more sophisticated, though the roadster finally loses its rear "sport bar" and flimsy "bikini top" in favor of a full manual-fold canopy that should ward off the elements far better and be infinitely more convenient. This also enhances the new roadster styling, which is recognizeably Viper but crisper and, from some angles, more aggressive. Side exhaust pipes return, only integral with the body and shielded to meet noise regulations and to forestall fried legs. Construction again involves a steel chassis and a composite-plastic body with some aluminum panels. The 4-wheel double-wishbone suspension stays roughly the same too, but wheel diameter goes from 18 to 19 inches, allowing room for larger 4-wheel antilock disc brakes. Tires are Z-rated, as before, and even more massive at the rear (345/30s versus 335/30s).

The big news is that Viper's trademark pushrod alumimum V10 has been morphed to 500 cubic inches, 500 horsepower, and 500 pound-feet of torque, delivered through a fortified 6-speed manual gearbox. With that and fractionally less weight, the '03 should easily outperform today's 450-hp Viper, which does 0-60 mph in about 4.5 sec. Dodge hasn't yet made performance claims for the '03, but suggests the new 220-mph speedometer is there for a reason. Traction control or antiskid system? Fuggedaboudit. Viper has always been a chest-thumping "elemental" muscle car, and Dodge isn't about to change that.

It also doesn't intend to change price very much, though the '03 will have a few extra standard goodies. Some observers expect stickers to rise slowly within months of introduction. Keep checking back with us for further information as it comes to light.