Driving 14 hours with the top down

Been there, done that. Of course that was about 30 yrs ago. No way in hell now.

I drove 9 hours straight top-down the day before Thanksgiving a few years ago. I found a $500 Miata hardtop in the Albany NY area and sent my dad to pick it up since he lived an hour away. I made plans to pick it up over Thanksgiving, knowing it was going to be cold up north. So instead of chancing dealing with the soft top in the Massachusetts cold, I dropped the top here in southern Maryland and left it down

It was maybe 45 degrees at home when I left, and I was wearing everything I owned. I took the scenic/freeish route (83-81-84-taconic parkway) and while the weather was mostly good, I did drive through snow flurries up in the Pennsylvania mountain. I got pulled over by a NY state trooper who put two and two together, thinking I had a faulty exhaust since the car was a little loud and I was top-down cruising when it's 35 degrees out.

It wasn't that bad a trip, but I don't know if I'd do it again. Well, I would, but not in late November!

But I digress.

Oh yeah, one more

Me and the missus went to a big Miata meet in Dallas a couple years ago. Long haul from DC, and we took the scenic route, Skyline Drive, then down to Deals Gap, and on to Dallas. And because we're nuts, we brought two cars. We both drove top-down for 100% of the ride there, and maybe 75% of the ride home as we ran across rain in places.

So I echo the big floppy hat and long-sleeve ideas. Can't imagine what the sunburn would have been like without those.

I once drove from Colorado Springs to Bozeman, MT with the top down in August. This was in my Cobra. I think it was about 10 or 11 hours straight. I remember stopping at a rest area to use the bathroom and seeing a big bunch of Harley/touring bike riders putting on sunscreen. Did I? Nope. I didn't even think to put some on. Head, neck, arms, hands and my legs were cooked. Needless to say, I drove the rest of the way to my hometown in Idaho with the top and windows up to keep the sun off of my charbroiled flesh. I was miserable the rest of the trip.

Wear sunscreen and drink plenty of water! Wear long pants if possible.

Cobra here; no top or heat. 45-65 and sunny is a piece of cake The wind whips back at you from behind so below 45 or so I put on a hoodie sweatshirt and pull it over my head. Below freezing I'll use the full helmet if I'm gonna' be on the highway for more than just 15-20 minutes . As suggested earlier earplugs go a long way for reducing fatigue from wind noise in an open car.

Jeff

I drove the Nashville to DC run (13 hours 1-way) top down several times in an MGB while I was in college. No sunscreen or ear plugs the first time. It sure made the every-other-weekend NC to DC runs I made a couple of years later seem easy.

I did from AC to Outerbanks in my old Fiat Spider. Top down.

Something to remember if the wind is bothering you.. put the windows up. I know people make fun of that.. but it really helps keep the buffeting down

If I were about to make such a trip today with the temps you predict, I would do two things: 1. go to wal mart and get a seat cover with a heater. you'll appreciate it. 2. figure out how to make a wind stopper. this will help a lot as it makes the car a lot quieter and less drafty

I drove my last CJ7 for a Michigan winter with no top or doors. No garage either.

This comes to mind. LOL

Did 10 hours in my 1969 Mustang convertible with temps from 38 to 60 and only one batch of rain. Top was not installed at the time and I wore a helmet, gloves and coat. Was still cold! My brother did 1800 miles in his 1970 Mustang convertible last yaer...gonna do it again in 2014.

Did 4 hours of interstate highway driving in the rain at 65 mph. The top was actually up but it really didn't make that much difference...1960 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite!

Was a passenger in a 1969 Cadillac convertible (with horns on the front) from Texas to Illinois that was a hoot!

Bruce

Brucew

Just now today, broke in the engine on my F100 drag project... No dyno available so we broke it in on the county road in front of my house on slicks... Open headers (had to wear earplugs). No bed. No tail lights. Not enough vacuum for the brakes from huge cam (found out after I got started)

Two of my neighbors gave me the thumbs up... One gave me the finger. I put it back under wraps before police showed up.

I'd do it again... Haha things a beast.

44Dwarf wrote: http://www.steampunkemporium.com/steam.php

I like the "Intrepid Motorist" ensemble. Does it make me a nerd?

DrBoost wrote: I drove my last CJ7 for a Michigan winter with no top or doors. No garage either.

It seems as though we are a part of about 5-6 people who aren't nancies in this thread.

One of my good friends bought a first gen Blazer about 10 years ago. He drove it home and threw the top in the grass next to his garage. I have never seen him drive it with the top on no matter what the weather is like.

Max ensemble for the Midget is earplugs. Need those little guys to keep flying. But I don't have heat or A/C, so I hope that overcomes. There is nothing like a long trip- a little suffering is what makes it all worth it. You won't remember it if you don't suffer. The beer won't taste as good.

In reply to z31maniac:

A couple summers ago I did 850 miles in a day on my Weestrom. Of course, it turned out to be that one week of summer that is a heat wave, and I was going to Florida. I will still take that, in helmet, jacket and gloves over unprotected in a car. Though I do try to remember earplugs on bike rides as well.

Like most people these days my lineage is a bit of a mish-mosh, but I'm of mostly Irish descent. I get sunburned standing under a 60 watt lightbulb.

We were in a friend's Hyundai Excel when he hit a deer in Massachusetts. The car was still running ok so we pulled out the badly broken windshield and continued on to New Hampshire for the weekend and back to Long Island. He would drive like that so I did the rest of the driving and whenever he complained about the wind I would spray him with the washers.

Wally wrote: We were in a friend's Hyundai Excel when he hit a deer in Massachusetts. The car was still running ok so we pulled out the badly broken windshield and continued on to New Hampshire for the weekend and back to Long Island. He would drive like that so I did the rest of the driving and whenever he complained about the wind I would spray him with the washers.

Priceless.

fanfoy wrote:

44Dwarf wrote: http://www.steampunkemporium.com/steam.php

I like the "Intrepid Motorist" ensemble. Does it make me a nerd?

I like the "Autoist" myself. http://www.steampunkemporium.com/store/steam_mens_04.php

I drove 21 hours from west Texas to Atlanta in a 75 911 targa. Sunburned only on the right night and had a blister on the top of my ear. MISERABLE.

x 100 on the water, hat, sunscreen, earplugs

I used to drive my roadsters all year with the top down... though I did discover that doing it in the snow makes for a messy and icy interior the next day

I used to drive top down all the time way back when, guess I'm a nancie now. I agree about covering the ears, sunburned ears make it hard to go to sleep. In cold weather I'd crank the side windows up and turn the heat on full blast, in a Spit or MG this meant my right shin would have a not quite frozen spot on it.

I also cooked my legs once, driving an MGB from Columbia SC to Atlanta wearing shorts. Damn that hurt.

Yeah, I've cooked my legs doing that in the S2000. That thing has a furnace under the dash!