Summer is a painfully short season in our region.
Most car guys have a limited amount of time to spend on the summer road here in the land of the ice and snow, so they tend to jump on any opportunity to hit the road with their beloved old iron.
Now we have entered the hot zone of July and the quality time between old car and owner is at its peak.
We have entered a time of year when convertibles are an even better game plan because the drop tops are a great idea when the summer sun is high in the sky.
Convertibles from a bygone era never made much sense as a new car purchase in northern areas because much of the year is spent in the kind of cold where top-down driving would define a legal interpretation of insanity.
The average convertible owner here can seize the top-down moments in parts of May, very little of June, most of July, most of August and much of the first three weeks in September in these less temperate regions. The rest of the year, a top-down convertible kind of day is pretty much a lottery win for the ‘vert crowd.
But now we are at a time of year when we view the convertibles and their owners with an infinite, completely unchecked amount of envy. It is the convertibles’ time in the spotlight and the cars have earned their right to be the rock stars on the pavement.
Clearly, a ride in a classic old convertible is a unique experience that should be on everybody’s checklist. The old school drop tops will connect you with the world around you in a noisy and windy kind of way. You will hear the sounds of speed in a car and feel it coupled with the full force of velocity.
This will be a sensory overload until you get used to the idea that a car without a roof is unlike any other vehicle with four wheels. The seasoned convertible owner will warn you not to expose anything valuable (like paper currency and skinny pets) that can get taken away on the wind currents, or any skin area that can get burned to a crisp by unchecked exposure to the sun.
These are really the only two real hazards found in a convertible ride, unless you are really obsessive about your hair and want every follicle to remain in place at all times. That well-styled hair concept is not even a remote possibility in a convertible.
What is completely possible is a golden opportunity to enjoy the old school romance of the open road in a convertible. The old convertibles are a way to connect with that sense of freedom and adventure because convertibles were built for thrill-seekers-not families.
So now we have reached the time of year when convertibles are the kings of the road in every sense of the car guy world of royalty.
We see them at shows, we see them on the roads, and we salute their lucky owners for their wise choice in old school rides.
Jim Sutherland
