2003 Chrysler Sebring GTC Convertible

Seating for four and 11.3 cubic feet of cargo space will help you enjoy the inside of the sporty GTC, while the fully retractable convertible top will help you enjoy the outside.

In addition to sound and climate insulation to keep the interior toasty and reasonably quiet, the '03 Sebring convertible's body boasts an improved safety cage structure and additional front door beams to better protect its occupants in the event of a crash. The convertible top has a full cloth headliner and a solid glass rear window with electric defroster.


With just two clamps to release at the windshield headliner, the top retracts into its well in a few seconds with a console-mounted switch then all four side windows retract for the full open-air experience. The boot (which folds and stores compactly in the 11.3 cubic-foot trunk) installs easily and snugly with tabs behind the seats and a single hold-down snap on each side. It unsnaps just as easily, and the top erects with the same switch. Pull it down, clamp the headliner clamps, power up the windows, and you're weather-tight again in a few seconds.


The sporty GTC, introduced in mid-'02, features a taught yet smooth suspension tuned for the European market (where it's sold as the Sebring Cabrio), firm-feel power steering, a subtle rear-deck spoiler, and special 16-inch spoke-aluminum wheels. Color-keyed body-side moldings, two-tone seats, white-faced instrument dials, six-speaker stereo/CD sound system and unique instrument-panel trim-sort of a shiny machined-aluminum look-replaces the usual woodgrain. All of this looks great, but we like the woodgrain, too.

The GTC comes standard with Chrysler's smooth 200-hp 24-valve DOHC 2.7-liter V-6 driving the front wheels through a 4-speed automatic or 5-speed manual transaxle.

Our test GTC, with its smooth 5-speed manual shifter, was a true delight. We drove it top-up from Lansing, Michigan, to Chicago and back on one cool day, and returned rested and ready for hours more. Then we enjoyed it top-down around town the next warmer day and evening.


The steering feels great, its handling is crisp and tight, and its P205/60R16 Goodyear Eagle LS tires stick tenaciously to the road, especially powering out of medium-speed curves. Braking is reassuring in normal use, powerful and stable when used hard. (ABS is standard on Limited and manual-trans GTC, optional on other models.) Zero-to-60 acceleration takes eight to nine seconds, depending on the launch-and tire-spinning launches come easily.