Because it's, you know, the coast, dude, it seemed timely to consider the two new convertibles that are debuting at the Los Angeles auto show this week in terms of the characters of Fast Times At Ridgemont High.

Specifically I'm thinking of Jeff Spicoli and Brad Hamilton, stoner dude and convenience store manager, respectively, who starred in the classic 1982 movie.

Both characters would be on the dark side of 40 now, and it's likely they would have hung on to their affection for cars. Hamilton lovingly maintained a 20-year-old Buick sedan in the film, and while Spicoli had the VW minibus for pot-smoking trips to All-American Burger and the prom, he also crashed the Pontiac Trans Am belonging to Ridgemont's star football player.

If you take those fictional facts from the movie and let your imagination run free a bit, you can see how Brad and Spicoli would be interested in, respectively, the convertible versions of the Pontiac G6 and the Ford Mustang at the LA convention centre this week.

Hamilton, now the manager of real estate development for In and Out Burger, would be there, looking for something that reflected the seriousness of his position, but also projected some style and LA élan. He would therefore be considering the flashy droptop version of the Pontiac G6, with its four-spot seating and hardtop convertible roof.

Spicoli would be at the show in his checkerboard boat shoes. Socks would still not be part of his wardrobe, but he would be doing better financially as a result of his career providing Van Halen tribute bands to high school reunions. For the most part, his turn in the media spotlight as the aging surfer dude secretly dating Brooke Shields would be over.

Spicoli would like to have a new Trans Am of his own, but GM stopped building that car a while back, so he headed directly to the Ford booth to check out the convertible version of the latest iteration of the Mustang.

Though they're similar in size and other aspects, the G6 and the Mustang convertibles speak to different markets, as our little trip down moviedom's memory lane was meant to make clear.

As improved as it is from anything that ever wore the galloping horse insignia, the new Mustang is still a blue-collar car, and even though it's brand new on the market, the Pontiac G6 has more of a white-collar appeal.

The Mustang's about fast starts and straightforward power, while the G6 suggests slickness and refined driving. Both cars are about more than that, of course, but those are the key characteristics that they project.

That blue-collar generalization is probably more in the public's mind than in the running gear of the Mustang itself, since the venerable two-door sports coupe has never been as good as it is now.

In the first place, this Mustang was designed as a convertible rather than as a coupe with its top removed, and this should make for a stiffer, quieter, tighter ragtop. Also improved is the way the convertible top goes up and down and the way it fits, and the car's aerodynamics to reduce occupant buffeting. These things make for better passenger comfort in good weather and bad, top up and top down.

What's not different is the power-to-price ratio of the Mustang convertible, which still leads the league. That is to say, there's nothing that can beat the original pony car for fun and fast for less money. (The Mustang Convertible V-6 will retail for $27,995 and the V-8 for $36,795).

Ford says it's also managed to keep the extra weight that delivers the structural support down to a level that allows the ragtop Mustang to use the same suspension setup as the coupe, so handling should be about the same. Launch times will be slower with the ragtop, of course, but faster than on previous models.

The base engine in the Mustang is the 4-litre V-6 that delivers lots of real-world power, while the 4.6-litre V-8 in the GT models is for people who live in some fictional world where maximum performance is required all the time.

For the first time, buyers can move up from the standard five-speed manual to a five-speed automatic in the new Mustang ragtop, which Ford correctly points out will help with both performance and fuel-economy.

Compared to the Mustang, which is one of the oldest and most understood brands on the road today, the Pontiac G6 convertible is something of a blank slate.

It does have some family cachet from the performance drum that Pontiac's been beating for some time, but the G6 is a brand new name.

What does set G6 apart from Mustang and most other convertibles on the market is its hard rather than soft retractable roof, since this should deliver a better occupant experience with the roof up.

Pontiac also makes a big deal of the fact that the wheels on the G6 are set far enough apart that there's more room in the back seat than is normally found in the rear seat of a convertible. That would be important if you're one of those rare types who actually has more than two people in the car at any one time.

Neither the GT nor the GTP version of the G6 with their V-6 engines will challenge the Mustang for launch power, but Pontiac is promising a prime driving experience, which suggests fun handling when the car is already moving.

The G6 sedan is an excellent piece in its own right, so it's not hard to imagine that a convertible version won't also make people happy.

That means both Brad and Spicoli will at least be happy with their cars if they ever make a sequel to Fast Times At Ridgemont High.