I love a convertible car. We have now owned two. The first one was a PT Cruiser, red and cool and cute. Boy hated every minute of riding in the back seat with Chubs still having to ride in a car seat. We only had the car for a year and a half. Of course we had a hard time trading it in because in that short time Wife put +43,000 miles. We eventually went and traded it for a much cooler, slightly gangster Chrysler 300C. Beautiful big heavy car with tons of horsepower. Too bad it was a Chrysler.
Anyways, about a year ago, I was able to get my hands on my mothers VW Beetle, which was a convertible. She was fixing to trade it in, my dad did not like riding around in it, declaring it was too low and rough a ride for him. He was used to tractor trailers, so maybe he had a valid point. I knew going into it there were going to be some problems to fix. The car was nine years old, and it had not been driven much. It actually needed a new battery to get it going. After a few visits to a few repair shops, car has been solid. Wife took it to Kansas City a couple months ago, and many times to Corpus Christi last summer it ran in the 85-90 range. Little car can scoot along.
With the top up, it is a little clumsy, wind chirps in, it is not as secure or solid as a hardtop, but that is not the point. When you open the top on a perfect afternoon, there is no better thrill on the road. Maybe a motorcycle, but I would be afraid of dying the whole time, and how are you going to include the family, have Chubs ride on the handlebars? A convertible is the perfect car for cruising. Nothing better than driving through Dairy Queen or Sonic, getting a drink and cruising, specially when we'd do it down on the coast, by the shore, looking out at the boats and the water in that muggy but cool evening weather.
In the front, it's all good, riding in the back, the boys would complain that the wind would hit their face, too bad, was my thought, cruising with them was never longer than an hour. Wife and I will leave the boys behind, sometimes, so we can cruise without having to hear their whining, now we know why parents go out without their kids, it's quiet...
Growing up, I think I got the urge of a convertible because my dad had a friend who owned a gas station and in the gas station they always had a green Midget convertible car. I remember I always wanted to drive that car, as a kid, it was perfectly sized for me, I thought. I see The BMW Z3/Z4 2-seater cars and they remind me a lot of those cars. I always tell my wife I'm gonna get one of those when the kids are out of the house, she just says "your big butt would never even fit in one of those". It hurts, but while looking at cars for my boy, I stood next to one with the door open and could not do the math where my body would fit in that small a space that close to the ground.
Maybe the sporty 2-seaters have passed me by, or maybe that just means I'll have to look into a convertible Corvette or even a convertible Jaguar, full sized cars for the full sized man. We'll see, first I gots to get my two hatchlings employed and out of the house. Who's hiring fourth graders?
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