Stylish fast and affordable convertible

This is my first "sports" car and I love it. I had to wait a long time for a sports car (no money in high school, worse in college, and then the kids came), but now that I have the Camaro I have to say that it will hard to go back to the Honda Civics that I trained on. My wife finally gave me the go ahead to get a new, "sporty" car (after stealing away the last 3 new/used cars we bought!). I leapt at the opportunity immediately, but couldn't figure out which one.

Can a 30-Something Father Buy a Camaro?
Yup. To be honest I had seen Camaros all my life (the Iroc was the hot car at my high school), but never imagined I would own one. And at my advanced age?
Am I going through a mid life crisis? No, not really. I wanted something sporty (finally), but I was also looking for something somewhat practical. That is what I found with the Camaro.

The Camaro, Practical?
Well, first off I was comparing the convertible Camaro to the convertible Mercedes-Benz SL that I had borrowed from a friend of mine. My wife and I drove it from San Jose to a wedding in Napa, and absolutely loved it. It was really mind, and hair, blowing for us, a couple strapped into civics and vans for the last 10 years, to experience the wind in our hair, smooth ride, and excellent handling.
Now with two kids and a San Jose mortgage we just were not going to be able to swing the whole $90K convertible Mercedes thing, but we knew our next car would be a convertible. Still the Camaro was not in the picture, well, at least not until I actually saw one up close.

Did you know these things have back seats? They are small, but for my 9 and 5 year old they are enough. The passenger is a bit snug too, but it works.

Once I was driving the Camaro I was hooked- the drivers seat is just fine! :)

Speed and the "little" V6 3.8 Liter engine
I purposely didn't get the Z28, frankly I already had enough speeding tickets driving Honda Civics, VW Foxes, and Chevy Blazers, last thing I needed was something that could really move. Having said that, boy does this car have kick. No, I'm not saying it is a "muscle" car, but compared to your average $20k 4 seater it compares very nicely.

Gas Mileage
I have checked and rechecked and always get between 20 and 25 MPG. Not bad compared to the SUVs, VANs, and even some of the other smaller cars. this ain't no GEO Metro, but... well ... THANK GOD!!!! I'm all for the environment and I think this is a great compromise.

Interior Room
This is not for big people. I'm 5' 9", my wife is 5' 7" and we fit fine. The kids are average size for a 8 and 5 year old and they are comfortable in the back. Having said that let me also say that there is not a lot of spare room. If I have my heavy boots on it is sometimes a hassle to get into the car- it is totally possible, I just have to think about it. I used to be about 30 lbs heavier too, and my gut was pretty close to the steering wheel, but it is manageable.
The passenger side is a bit worse. There is less room, and the second drink holder, which opens out into the space, makes this even worse.
I don't recommend this car for people much larger than 6' average weight.

Convertible Top
I have always wanted one and now I have it. I love it. For the first year I had this I opened the top on nearly every trip and closed it at the end. I never once had a mechanical failure. Now that the novelty has worn off I still ride topless on most sunny days (nearly 80% in San Jose lately), the exception being when the trip is very short, or the air is very cold.