Ragtop’s Roadrage

Traveling

The mystique of the convertible is well established in films and fiction - a convertible stands for youth, freedom, and a certain joy d’ vie, at least according to filmmakers, authors, and advertising writers.

That image is true when you are the only car on a stretch of rural road, driving with the top down, with blue sky and sunshine peeking through the leaves of trees alongside the road, the wind ruffling your hair, and the fresh scent of newly mown hay or pine forest in the air.

A convertible is also a joy when cruising a wide city boulevard past stately homes or driving through a vibrant downtown filled with interesting shops and wonderful smelling cafes.

Four Topless Seasons

A Sunday afternoon drive and picnic in the spring is the best way to see all the daffodills and other spring bulbs coming up in the surrounding countryside. In May there are the new calfs and foals frisking in the pasture to see.

In Summer, a top down drive on back roads out to the lake will cool off even a Georgia summer in Augest. Crusing in a closed air conditioned car is like watching TV to me. Why bother if it isn’t any fun?

In Autumn you can see a panorama of colors overhead and all around instead of looking out through a hole in a box formed by the roof.

Hard core convertible owners know that top down driving on a stary winter night can be a delightful experience. With the side windows and/or the windscreen up, there is almost no wind chill so a jacket and the heater running on recirculate will be enough protection from the cold.

While sunshine is better, I don’t even mind a little rain. In many convertibles the windshield and windows act like the faring on a motorcycle to deflect the elements. The cabin will stay dry, warm, and quite comfortable even in moderate rain or snow as long as you keep moving above thirty or forty miles an hour. Just don’t stop until you get under an underpass, and expect some strange looks from the people in sedans that you pass on the interstates.

On the Other Hand there are Top Up Troubles:

Older convertibles had soft plastic rear windows that scratch and crack after a few years, or tiny glass rear windows that severely limit rear and side visibility when the top is up.

A few decades ago, even the best convertibles came equipped with thin, uninsulated tops and poor seals that leaked rain in thunderstorms and cold air - even snow - in winter. Many still do.

And then there is the security issue. A fabric top parked on the street in a rough section of town just seems like an invitation to any low life with a knife. In fact, many convertible owners just leave their car unlocked, since a couple hundred dollar stereo is easier to replace than a couple thousand dollar fabric top.

Top Down Troubles:

The joy of top down driving disappears when you are one of thousands of cars inching along in a bumper to bumper traffic jam on an eight lane highway around a major city, with a couple of semi trucks belching diesel fumes in front of and beside your car.

Having the top down on a pretty country road can still disappoint when the little road that looked interesting on the map winds between dozens of factory style pig farms, and the stench of manure is strong enough to make you gag and make your eyes water.

And there are still the crime ridden sections of many cities where the residents are outright hostile, and many people will only enter if absolutely necessary and then drive only with the windows up and the doors locked. Sigh. Not a good place to have the top down.

UnSafe at Any Speed?

Even the old convertibles were about as safe as other cars of their time, though that wasn’t saying much.

Before Ralph Nader’s book ‘Unsafe at Any Speed” came out in 1965 and caused such a stir over GM’s ill designed Corvair, there were no crash tests, no seat belts, no air bags, no child safety seats, no antilock brakes, nor any thing like electronic stability control systems. Who knew?

Todays convertibles are quite safe, even according to conservative sources like Consumer Reports and Edmunds. In fact, safety advocates are now focused on the other end of the automotive spectrum in their books : the SUVs. Probably the world’s most dangerous vehicles.

Volvo, the paragon of automotive safety, is selling a retractable hardtop with all the advanced safety features of their regular line plus some designed specifically for the convertible; and the inexpensive convertible models offer antilock brakes and electronic stability control in addition to all the seat belts, air bags, and crumple zone designs of their standard cars.