At 03:02 PM 8/6/2002 -0700, you wrote:
>D^2
> I agree with you on your take of convertibles, although I personally have
>nothing against them.
Arran, nobody has anything against them! They just make no sense to
me. But if somebody likes them, great! I guess there is a car for
everybody. I was reading a CarLife road test of a 66 Chrysler 300. The
testers did not like the car, but respected its power and handling. At the
end they said: " if we all liked the same thing, we all would be married to
the same woman".
>All of this for a sunny summer weekend
>driver that weighs more then a sedan but is less practical then a business
>coupe and less fun then a motorcycle.
It seems that the 1968 Imperial buying crowed agree with us. Out of
~15,000 cars, only 470 or so were ragtops. My guess is that most of those
who bought the ragtops, did not rely on that very car for their primary
transportation. Given that these cars were so expensive, the ragtop crowd
may have been "spoiled" rich folks! ;) (nothing wrong with that, wish I was
one of them too). My biggest objections except for the obvious poor wether
protection is lack of safety, and loss of performance (not only due excess
weight, but also due to added aerodynamic drag, even with the top up, at
high speed the top will expand seriously adding drag).
>Carrying your logic to the extreme, a sedan should be worth
>a lot more than a coupe, because it's more practical.
>
>--Roger van Hoy,
R, the loss of practicality between a ragtop and a coupe seems to me far
more radical than from a coupe to a 4 door. If I had a family though, I
would definitely try to avoid a 2 door. So, yes, in that case, the 4 door
would have had more value for me (remember, value is a relative term).
The only convertible I have ridden in was a friend's Miata. I do not know
if this qualifies for the thrill you are talking about. The most
interesting deal with that car is that you felt it was far faster than it
really was (which was not due to the lack of roof, as due to its small
size, and windy little engine). Later I raced the guy with my Imperial (I
only had the sedan at the time), and I was amazed how easily I outran
him. In fact, I though he wasn't really trying to race me, but he admitted
he was!
D^2, 2x68s
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