A friend of mine suggested that owning a convertible was unwise in our part of northern New Jersey, limited to just 15 days a year of driving with the top down.
As I was driving to work this morning with the windows down and the roof panel removed (temperature 57) I had a chance to think about it. 15 days a year isn’t even close, quadruple that is still not enough.
When I picked up the car for the first time at the dealership I put the top in the trunk and headed home for the first time, the long way around. That set the standard, the Corvette was to be driven with the top off at every opportunity.
Acceptable conditions: day or night, temperature range 55 to 85 though occasionally on both sides of that range. It could be bright and sunny, partly cloudy or completely overcast. In a light drizzle more often than you might expect, in a torrential downpour once. But for the bozo ahead of me crawling along, I would have made it into the garage before the skies opened.
It was never too much effort to remove the top. I joined some friends for dinner at a local restaurant. I removed the top for the trip home, distance about 1 mile.
The top came off mostly from March through November and for about six months a year it was rare for me to go a week without the top off at least one day.
