chicagotribune.com's view

Cute.

An apt description of the Geo Metro convertible.

The Geo Metro ragtop is ideal for those who want wind-in-the-face freedom on a balmy May day, or those who choose to slip the top down and watch thetrees turn color in the fall.

Of course, that leaves 363 days to justify owning a car that starts tofeel as spacious as a kiddy pedalmobile after about 25 miles of driving, avehicle that feels so snug you begin paying attention to those Slim-Fast ads. When the top is down, you have the feeling of freedom. When the top isup, which is most of the time in this climate, the feeling is one ofconfinement in this mini two-seater.

The mileage is super, 41 miles per gallon city/46 highway with 5-speedmanual, 32/37 with optional ($465) automatic. Mileage is so good because thecar and the engine are so small.

The Geo Metro convertible is built on an 89.2-inch wheelbase and is 146.1 inches long. It tips the scales at 1,700 pounds, only a shade more than yourtypical NFL defensive lineman.

The engine is a 1-liter, 55-horsepower, 3-cylinder job. A cat purrs, a 1- liter engine doesn`t. Wind it up and let it go and you pass every high-priced filling station between here and Milwaukee without having to stop,but you`ll be covered in dust when you get there.

The Geo Metro convertible comes only in red, white or yellow and startsat $9,740.

Standard equipment includes power brakes, rack and pinion steering,driver`s side air bag, sport mirrors and intermittent wipers. Among the commonoptions, air conditioning runs $670 and AM/FM stereo with digital clock $301. With color-keyed floor mats for $15, our test car listed for $10,726. Add a$255 destination charge for shipment from Japan to Chicago which, oddlyenough, is about half of what it costs to ship a car from Michigan to Chicago.Could Detroit automakers be making money on $500 freight charges?

With the Geo Metro convertible you get cute, high mileage and low price(versus $14,400 for a Sunbird ragtop and perhaps $12,000 when the ChevroletCavalier convertible returns in the spring) wrapped up into one package-onevery small package. And that`s small as in the Samurai utility vehicle, which like the Geo Metro convertible is made by Suzuki of Japan for Chevrolet.

The car isn`t for everyone. Younger people, mostly women, were far moreenthusiastic about it than the thirtysomething crowd.

Though we wouldn`t want to drive the car any farther than a short paraderoute, it deserves an accolade for neat, clean convertible top stowage underthe plastic tonneau.

The tonneau consists of three plastic pieces, a center section that lifts up and comes off and two sides that swing open. Unfasten the convertible top, lower it into the compartment, swing back the plastic sides and replace thecenter section and the vinyl convertible top is hidden.

One ragtop complaint: A too snug top-window fit. When the top was up, th e driver`s window wouldn`t close all the way unless we opened the door androlled the window up.