Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Evening all,

In this corner of our green and (mostly) pleasant land this evening, it's fine and sunny. A Moggy 1000 tourer just went by, its roof and windows in the up position. The driver may well have a headache, or have just had their hair "done" prior to an important social function, but I don't understand why often convertibles can be seen, on nice warm days, with their roof solidly raised. There's an MGB roadster that lives locally and is regularly seen out and about, not once so far spotted with its roof lowered.

Why do so many people opt for a soft-top car, then never - or rarely - take advantage of its folding roof?

There's an ancient Megane ragtop up the road, I've never seen the roof down on that one either. I can only think they are embarrassed to own such a creation, so attempt not to be recognised while behind the wheel, which I can well understand

RJ
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[emmerson]

Agreed Rick it is strange. In our village a couple own Megane and Ka convertibles, both on 09 plates. Neither, to my almost certain knowledge, have ever had the top down!

[ukdave2002]

All I can add is that today my better half has blasted up to the Wirral and back in her new TT with the hood down and complained of sunburn when she got back !

Dave

[Keith D]

Just to be awkward, folks, my hood is very, very rarely ever up! Despite the widespread British belief that we have wall to wall to sunshine 365 days a year in Australia, we do have storms and rain and other nasties in the weather! I enjoy wrapping myself in a warm coat and having the wind in my face and through my hair.

In the rain the hood stays down as long as I'm travelling forward as I don't get wet. The rain goes over the top of the windscreen. I have a tonneau cover that keeps the back seats dry. Stopping at traffic lights can be a bit dampening however! The real problem comes in the summer when the temperature is in the high thirties or more. Then the car stays at home in her comfortable garage (with the hood still down I might add!) and I use the air conditioned modern with far less risk of skin cancer.

Keith

[goneps]

Funny you should bring up this subject, Rick. I've only just raised the hood of my Morris Eight Tourer after too many weeks stowed. Why? Because it's not good for the fabric to be left strapped down and wrapped up in the hood bag for too long. Time to let it breathe and stretch back into shape, at least until the next time out.

Since the climate in northern NZ is tolerably temperate (more than a handful of frosts would be a pretty severe winter) I always drive with the hood down if it's not raining, with a couple of caveats.

Firstly, the sidescreens are usually up except on the warmest days with little breeze, otherwise the buffeting at speeds over 35mph can be unpleasant, and they're invariably up when I have to go any distance on the motorway.

Secondly, raising or lowering the foul-weather gear is a tedious chore of 15 to 20 minutes, so if showers are likely it stays up. Getting soaked while going through this complex procedure is not my idea of fun. I'm not one of those hardy types like Keith who boast of never raising the hood. It's there for a purpose, and I don't enjoy getting cold and wet.

Oh, and pardon the nit-picking, but a soft top is a HOOD, not a roof. Always mutter about this when the Top Gear troika make the same error, as they frequently do (together with other solecisms such as "Which is best?" when discussing only two cars).

Richard

[Bitumen Boy]

With the moderns, it could be that people didn't really want a convertible at all, but got a good price on something the dealer was finding it hard to shift. Also, many journeys are short, and it might be that it simply isn't worth lowering the hood. You do wonder at the mentality sometimes though. I've only ever had saloon cars but unless it's raining or snowing generally have an arm out the window and probably the opposite window wide open as well, so suspect it would be hood down most of the time for me

[MikeEdwards]

My modern (also a TT, but quite an early one) is a soft-top, and I have the soft-top down when it's possible, unless it's a really short journey and not worth the hassle of turning the latch and holding the switch for ten seconds. My view is that, by opting for the convertible version, I've sacrificed rear seats and boot space, so I might as well get the most out of the reason for that. Someone I used to work with had a couple of modern convertibles, and I never saw either with the roof down unless her husband had borrowed one. I never leave mine parked with the roof down, though.

I wonder with some older cars whether the relative complexity of dropping or raising the roof causes some to not bother with it. Or maybe older hoods are so draughty that it's almost the same up or down.

[emmerson]

Anyone remember 1976? Well on March 28th 1976 I bought an MGB. I took the hood off when I collected it and put it back on when I sold it in November 1976. We did get wet a couple of times after the drought broke in September, but it was great fun.

[Ashley]

I had Healeys back in the sixties and always drove with the roof up, but now I rarely have it down. It's a BJ7 with a wrap around screen and wind up windows and it's effective even at motorway speeds. It's also far far less noisy.

I also have a Boxster and it's no better than the Healey, but cooler in hot weather. I prefer to wear a warm coat than have the hood up.

[Vintage Crank]

I've always been a bit of a fresh air freak myself, much to the annoyance of passengers who can't understand how I can have my arm out of the window in winter. Comes from years of driving Series 2a Landrovers with no heater I think.

I had the pleasure(?) of driving a ragtop SWB for a few years and the moment the last snows melted I would remove the door tops, furl up the canvas and be gloriously open to the elements for the rest of the year (although I did have to shovel snow out of it once when I mis-timed it!). As any owner of a Landrover ragtop will tell you, removal and refitting of the whole canvas is far from a 2 minute job, so when I took it off it tended to stay off for a while.

I set out one very sunny day, fully open, and headed onto the motorway at a blistering 55mph. And then the heavens opened halfway to my destination with no option of stopping to quickly raise the hood as with a normal convertible. As long as I kept at 55mph the rain passed straight over the windscreen so I had the amusing sight of faces peering out of steamed-up windows in the passing cars (everything passes you when you're in a Landrover!), wondering how I could be sitting there in t-shirt and sunglasses, fag in mouth, totally dry whilst they had windscreen wipers on at full speed. Unfortunately the rain didn't ease off before I got to my intended junction and obviously I got my delayed thorough drenching the moment I slowed down!

Best example of braving the elements that I ever saw was many years ago on a totally deserted M1 around 1am (yes, it used to happen once) in a torrential storm. I was passed in the outside lane by a chap wearing goggles in a 1920s Bentley with aero screens, storming along at what looked like 100mph. Great to see such a valuable car actually being used properly rather than sitting in a collection. I half expected to see the steam train that he was racing! Wish I could have filmed that one for sure.
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Dave (Professional Procrastinator)

1927 Morris Oxford Saloon 14/28
1949 Ferguson TED20 tractor and other 1950s
1958 Series 2 Land Rover 88" and various 2a's
1969 Jaguar 420G

[rjt10/4]

A pet hate of mine is seeing a convertible with the hood up in decent weather I used to love driving my Volvo c70 with top down any chance I got having scrapped it recently I was looking for another convertible and managed to find a 1977 rubber bumper MGB roadster I have yet to drive it with the hood up great fun and a smile on my face everytime

[Ellis]

I'm afraid that I have confess here and hang my head in shame.

I owned two Triumph Stags and only once did I drive either with the hood down.

And to add further irrationality I bought an E46 BMW M3 convertible in 2013, drove it once "around the block" open topped and then bought a metal hard top for it!

Why do we do these things? I'm not keen on open top motoring and have felt vulnerable in open cars.
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Ray White]

When I lived and worked in Sunningdale, (Berks) I would often have lunch with a chap who ran a 17/50 Alfa. He never put the hood up. No matter what the weather, rain or shine, he would turn up at his office wearing tweeds and a flat cap just as he had done for many years. Even when the snow was coming down he would park the Alfa and take a few moments to fasten the tonneau cover before going inside.

His name was Easdale and he was a solicitor. He had the disgusting habit of taking snuff. Anyone remember him?

[Rick]

Lovely morning here, immaculate TR4A just went by, windows raised, Surrey top firmly attached ... tsk tsk some people eh!?

RJ
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[peter scott]