Is there anything more romantic in car-dom than the notion of carefree cruising in a convertible? The wind in your hair, the sun on your face, the freedom of the open road before you? It’s pretty gosh-darn delightful, is it not?
Indeed, the notion of driving in a convertible is wonderful. The actual practice? Ehhh, I don’t love it. Now, don’t get me started on chassis rigidity, because you can’t get me started on chassis rigidity. I promise you, if you put me in a convertible, any convertible, chassis flex will not even be among my top 100 gripes.
Chief among the gripes: I find the entire affair to be unpleasant. The niceness that having the top down does add – sun on your face, wind in your hair – is more than made up for by the headache I get from wind noise, and the annoyance of all the head-buffeting turbulence that’s also making me miserable.
It all looks like fun, especially in movies and on TV. For example, consider Ben Gazzara in Road House below, just enjoying the weather in his 1988 Mustang GT drop-top, drifting from lane to lane and forcing any wayward Daltons off the road.
Or how about Jon Bernthal in the opening credits of American Gigolo (the Showtime series), taking in the California sun in that most phallic of convertibles, the Jaguar E-Type? Though second to the Jag, the Mercedes 450 SL Richard Gere drives in the 1980 movie also makes top-down driving look sexy and fun.
But it’s never sexy or fun for me! The not-sexy part, I get. After all, I’m in the car, so there you go. But it should be fun! And above 30mph or so, I don’t think I’ve ever really had fun in a convertible.
Now, to be fair, I haven’t yet ridden in a modern convertible, which I’m sure manages airflow much better and feels less like a car missing a roof and more like a car meant to operate well while roofless. But I’d love to give one a try!
Your turn:
I feel like southern Ohio gets a few weeks per year to be comfortable doing it. Otherwise it’s miserable humid or too cold. I had an NA Miata for a year or two and put the top down a handful of times. (Still loved the car itself.)
I love the idea of a convertible, much like I like the idea of living near the beach. But much like the beach, a convertible is something I like visiting occasionally, like on vacation, but wouldn’t want to live with.
I am in the pro-convertible camp certainly. I’ve owned two Boxsters. I don’t like the way four seat convertibles look really and I’ve only ridden in a few so not much experience with those but I love roadsters with all my heart.
I had wanted convertibles for many years but due to the curse of long legs there were few I could fit in. No Miata or S2000 for me, although I drove the Miata and loved it. It was a NB Miata and it felt like being in a go cart again. The S2000 I couldn’t even fit through the tiny door opening. When I finally was making enough cash I could afford a Boxster I jumped on it as soon as I test drove one. Love at first shift.
I think a modern convertible might be good for you. Something to at least try. It is a lot better. Another thought to consider is the traditional way we romanticize the top–down drive is to show someone in full sun on the PCH driving with no traffic, wind in the hair. This is not the best time to drive top–down.
Try it in early Autumn. Maybe on a nice, sunny day in Winter (depending on where you are). A partly cloudy day is a great time going top–down.
I’m in the south where Winter is mild and I probably drive with the top down more in November than I ever do in July. Honestly my Boxster barely gets taken out of the garage in July and August. It’s too damn hot for that.
Having said all that, I did take mine on a cross-country drive and that was a slog. I did not estimate the road noise affect on me after 7 or 8 hours of driving at highway speeds every day for three weeks (with the top up for the most part). But once I got to Cali and got to drive in Carmel, Big Sur and going through Napa and Sonoma with the top down, I did not regret it. I wouldn’t do it again but I don’t regret it.
I had 2 e36 BMW 3-series convertibles, and when I wanted another one I thought about getting a Z3. I went to look at one and immediately realized I was too tall, as my head hit the roof. Since I was already in the big city looking at cars, I figured I’d try a Z4. Plenty of headroom, but not enough leg room. So I bought a 01 e46 330ci BMW, plenty of headroom and legroom. I think they look great, too.
Yeah, I went to one of those BMW Drive events where they set up autocross cones and give minimal instruction and let you go crazy with a new car they’re introducing. In this case it was the Z4 so I guess this was around 2003 or ’04 maybe?
It was so close. I almost fit and could have made it work but just couldn’t see spending $40K for something I was forcing and wasn’t quite comfortable in. The Z3 was never an option but damn they were a lot prettier.
I live at the beach — summer cruising in the convertible is just divine. I daily drove my car (a Sky turbo) for many years before I moved to the beach and it was fine. Being low and powerful sucked when there was snow on the ground, but that’s not really what its made for. Now its mostly in the driveway and gets taken out on the weekends. Unfortunately none of the roads around here are even close to decent driving roads (flat, straight, with plenty of traffic), so a good handler is kinda pointless. I’m not going to get rid of it but I’ve been eyeing up M850s and S63s as nice year round cruisers that can also drop the top and handle long trips up to the closest major airport (90-120min drive) for work.
One of our other cars is a Geo Tracker which doesn’t even have a soft top. My wife loves it, and its a lot of fun to crank out some 90s jams.
My least favorite part is that people feel the need to talk to you when the top is down. Gross.
I just got a 2025 MX-5 RF this summer. I was trying to decide between that or the GT86, and the fact that the Miata is a convertible wasn’t much of a factor. I figured I’d almost always have the top up. Wrong! I LOVE having the folding hardtop down, and am totally converted to convertible living. With great heated seats and the heater cranked I’m still commuting with the roof down in near-freezing Canadian mornings. It’s been a revelation, as I never thought I’d like it!
I swear I read that headline as “Top Down Modelling”.
I live in the PNW, convertibles aren’t real popular here. I despise sunroofs, but would love a real drop top. On the 2 days a year it isn’t raining.
Current mini convertible has made for some great family memories with the kids on the back seat as we have the top down and drive to get ice cream. Really magical stuff when the kids are singing and having a great time.
I’ve driven it with the top down on the freeway but convertibles definitely seem more fun when you’re not doing 75 mph and dodging trucks and drivers that are wildly distracted.
Second car and weekend drives are where the top-down fun is it for me.
Absolutely not. I categorically reject even the simple (relatively reliable and rarely failing) sunroof. Historically it hasn’t been a dealbreaker for the cars I have owned in the past, though ultimately end up opening them less than once a year. A non-convertible car necessarily avoids “convertible car problems” which I know I will have no patience for.
I just don’t like direct sunlight while I’m in a car all that much! I love walks, I love hikes, but those usually have trees and shade, and when they don’t the experience is often worth the discomfort of sunscreen. I’d just rather not drive, than drive with the sun beating down on me without shade or shelter.
This all applies to anything that I own for myself however. The moment I’m in somebody else’s car, or in a rental on vacation with friends or whatever – I just keep this dumb neuroticism to myself and let people enjoy the thing.
Driving a convertible is about the only time I wear a peaked cap. Choice of clothes is important.
I love the connection with everything with the top down; sound and smells come and go. Much above 100km/h gets a bit wearing so I avoid long, straight, flat roads (Christchurch to Ashburton is tedious, but is dull in anything).
1979 Fiat 124 spider. It’s elderly so I don’t daily it. Driving with the top up keeps the rain out, but keeps the noise in.
I own 3 Miatas currently, a turbocharged 99, an 04 Mazdaspeed, and a bone stock 91. While I do own hardtops for the two NBs, they spend the majority of the year on their storage rack since I live on the coast of NC and get nice weather 9 or so months out of the year. Needless to say, I am a fan of doing my daily commute with the top down.
Awesome collection! Also had an 04 msm with some FM mods, a 94 with a supercharger and dialed in suspension mods, and also 2010 PRHT NC with an extra 120 hp courtesy of Fab 9 turbo kit as well stock NBs and NAs. Now I’m down to just one. A near collectors quality mostly stock 91 BRG with about 70 k miles. Maybe 100 hp at the wheels on a good day, but damn it’s probably my favorite. All the Miata’s were a laugh, but the little BRG with the eager 1.6l and snick snick 5 speed is an absolute joy to drive. It’s not a slow car, it’s a fast street-legal go-cart!
Simply put: Automakers are doing it wrong.
Not only are automakers making most tops power actuated with no manual backup whatsoever, most convertible interiors nowadays are anything but waterproof, so if your top does get stuck down or you end up leaving it down and a storm rolls in while you’re indisposed enjoy the sopping seats, wet carpet floor, and soon to come mold and rust.
All convertible vehicles should have fully waterproofed interiors, and manual backups for the convertible tops.
I want my next car to be a convertible. The next BEV with Native NACS, mechanical door handles or removable doors, and a convertible top sold in the US I will buy ASAP!
Damn Jeep not giving the Recon NACS.
I like that on the C5 Corvettes, GM made the interiors on ALL of them the convertible interior. I was very confused at first why my buddies window switches were wrapped in rubber on his Z06
While my BMW convertibles do have a manual backup, it’s so convoluted that if it’s actually raining your best bet it to find an overpass or gas station with a canopy, you’ll get less water in the car that way.
I haven’t owned a lot of convertibles, but I like them a great deal. I ride a motorcycle to work everyday, year round, and there is something about being in the weather that make you feel more connected to the experience than just sitting in a car. Years ago, I had a friend with a Miata that didn’t have a roof, just the tonneau cover and when it was less than ideal weather, we would use helmets. IT made driving an outside activity like a hike. Something you had to be prepared for.
I’ve only really had one car at a time (not counting my wife’s car that I drive). Of those only 1 has not been a convertible:
92 LeBaron Convertible
01 Wrangler
03 Mustang GT Convertible
09 Frontier
24 Wrangler 4xe
I also regularly drove a 73 MGB at one point that was my dad’s
So I’m definitely in the camp of preferring convertibles. Strangely, I don’t like sunroofs though.
There really is something that can’t be beat about top down, with the right song on the radio. Especially on a warm summer night. One drive like that makes up for some of the pain points of convertibles.
I absolutely do not care about chassis rigidity, to be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever pushed a car hard enough for it to matter for handling. Besides, any squeaks or cracks are more than drowned out by the wind, engine, or radio when the top is down
I’m the same on sunroofs vs my love of convertibles. Sunroofs always seem sorta like a half hearted attempt to offer some fun but never enough. At least the classic, over the front seats type…the new trend toward larger surface area ones is cool, though I’m leery of things like mechanism durability.
’72 MGB here…driving her topless will always live in my memory. They make Miatas feel big and solid.
I’ve had a convertible. I burn easily, so I have to carry sunscreen in the glovebox and find a way to keep a hat over my bald spot in the breeze. But when the weather is good, a convertible really good, so I’m plotting to get another.
On the other hand, my uncle (a serious car buff) says nothing ever improves his mood like driving around with the top down. He’s owned convertibles most of his adult life, too.
I’ve had a couple old Jeeps on the farm, and the one that I could take the top off of was much nicer to drive through the field. The flip side is it routinely got parked outside and nighttime rains made for soggy seats the next morning. Not ideal. I’m intrigued by he idea of adding a droptop to the fleet, but not enough to buy one. Maybe someday.
We used to carry with us in the Jeep a big box of giant garbage bags to throw over wet seats on the occasions when the weather caught us by surprise.
I can remember four experiences in a convertible:
Our family car when I was born in Vancouver was a 1958 Morris Minor Tourer. I have a few memories of riding in it, but never with the top down. My mother said later that they realised quickly that toddlers had a tendency to throw their stuffed animals up in the air, resulting in a disappearing toy and a tearful child.
Some friends of my parents had a 1966 MGB, and I remember being driven in that, through Stanley Park in Vancouver. I had one of those pinwheel-on-a-stick toys and was experimenting with aerodynamic flow when the spinner flew away, leaving me with a bare stick. I was disappointed, but old enough that tears didn’t result.
Fast-forward to the 1980s London, and my cousin had a black Triumph Spitfire. We had been at another cousin’s wedding reception, and he and his girlfriend were driving me back to the hotel. I lay across the rear parcel shelf, somewhat drunk, and watched buildings shoot by in my peripheral vision as I looked up at the sky.
And finally, Los Angeles in the late 1990s where I lived for a few months. Someone loaned me an NA Miata for that period. I loved it, but had to get used to wearing a baseball cap all the time in the car – how do Caucasians survive in that climate??
Outside of northern Europe and Canada, most of us caucasians are exposed to the sun regularly and have built up a tolerance!
I’ve only had one problem with burning in my convertible, and that was the first day of a 2 week trip up the east coast – in July where the goal was to drive top down as much as possible. I made it from NC to VA the first day and realized I better get some sunscreen ASAP or I was going to fry. Then once I got to Canada I didn’t need it anymore.
Once again, Miata is always the answer.
I had my first convertible when I was 40 years old back in 2000 it was a Sebring nice enough car, but not a sports car.
Then I had a chance encounter on a business trip with a nearly customer who had a beater Miata, and I was holding on for dear life as the maniac tossed it through the mountains up upstate NY on a perfect summer day. I was hooked and haven’t looked back.
I’m on my seventh Miata now and the top goes down anytime I can drop it ( rain and temps below 45 are the basic limits), with the possible exception of long straight interstate runs.if I am on the interstate for five or six hours I’ll probably have the top up.
The combination of twisty back roads, rowing your own gears, and going topless is a little bit of automotive Nirvana. Spring, fall, summer evenings… I’ll always have at least one convertible Miata in the stable, and if they make the hole big enough, they’ll bury me Behind the wheel of my favorite automobile
I absolutely dislike driving with the top down. My mom had a Sebring convertable(I think. It was a convertable and a Chrysler). I would refused to get in it with the top down. The only “drop top” car I would ever own is a Miata RF, because it’s essentially a coupe with that hard top, and I admit I have a weak sport for the look of targa type things.
I would perhaps suggest you don’t judge convertibles by the Sebring/Cirrus/Stratus offerings. Same for a Toyota Solara if I’m honest (though a lot of people love those).
I agree with you on the targa style. I love those and if I ever come into money (like a lot of money) a 911 Targa is on my list.
Contrary to the “sun on your face” thrill, for me cruising top down on a clear warm summer night is magical. It feels more open for some reason. Throw on some Nick Drake for nostalgia and enjoy the drive.
I’m a bald guy, so Sun on my face just means sunburn. Nothing beats a drop top at night. Even on a cool evening. Just throw some blankets on yourself
Yes! Roof down in the twilight is my favourite thing – as long as it’s not too cold.
The excellent vw cabriolet commercial years ago started a modern interest in the late, great Nick Drake. It’s wordless and lets the music and the film / visuals do all the talking. A masterpiece of 60 second film making.
https://youtu.be/_-kqUkZnDcM?si=AvNVxRPiM7KX6G_c
I agree. Almost 30 years later and that commercial still stirs something. Drake’s life was too short.
I freaking love it and have had convertibles, T-tops, and a removable hardtop and I love them all! I drove from Utah to the Tail of the Dragon and then on to Alabama over the course of a week in a Miata several years ago, 90% of it was top down, including a stint across Oklahoma where it was pouring rain for a couple hundred miles. Never stopped, never slowed down and I stayed dry just fine. Anywhere from 45-80 degrees I want to be driving topless. But with a shirt on…
Nothing I love more than top down motoring! I’ve driven top down state to state multiple times, and once in 10° below zero weather (got pulled over twice that day…). Loved each and every experience. So much more involving than having a roof.
Few years ago when visiting the Bay Area, we had the bright idea to rent a convertible for the day. You get the picture – cruising over the Golden Gate out to wine country in Mustang… Now imagine the horror when all they had was a PT Cruiser convertible! Scarred for life…
There is nothing better than driving a convertible on a nice spring or fall day.
This is the correct answer.
Being a pasty white guy with a receding hairline, an aversion to direct sunlight and allergies to just about all plant life makes convertibles pretty much non-starters. Not fond of glass roofs either for that matter.