It was maybe a mistake to go off-roading 30+ miles from the nearest civilization all alone, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it was epic. My chariot for my excursion yesterday through the White Mountains/Eastern Sierras was my 1991 Jeep Wrangler, which I bought for a totally reasonable $6500 (after selling its doors and hard top). That was an incredible deal for what, in many ways, is a supercar.
Yes, I just called a YJ Wrangler a Supercar, but why wouldn’t it qualify? A supercar is a vehicle that performs its intended purpose better than pretty much anything else out there, and certainly in 1991, the YJ was one of the off-road kings. Solid axles? Check. Compact dimensions? Check. A torquey engine? Check. Skid plates? Check. Two-speed transfer case? Check.
But this quick Sunday blog isn’t about the YJ so much as it is about convertibles. Why do you buy them? I think most convertibles would say: “I like the wind in my hair. I like being able to see the world without glass or metal in my way.” There’s just a feeling of freedom with a convertible, which is why the best convertibles, in my opinions, are ones that multiply that freedom by offering go-anywhere off-road capability.
Being able to drive around a city or through national parks in a convertible is awesome, without question. All convertibles are loads of fun. But being able to be in nature — in deep forests, on beautiful rock formations, in nature untouched by heavy construction machinery that builds roads — in a convertible is an experience unlike anything else. It’s true freedom, and I’d recommend it to everyone who loves cars and the outdoors.
Anyway, this was a very random Sunday blog, but off-roading that YJ was just awesome.
My first experience in a convertible was driving from San Jose up to the Ren fair when it was still north of the Bay Area. I was jammed into the backseat and everyone was in renfair attire except me. We must have been some site as we crossed the Golden gate.
I fjorded a river in a BMW Z4.
Walked it first to make sure I had a plan.
The Jeep crew watching from the riverbank didn’t know what to think.
Used to work at a whitewater raft outpost in Tennessee. We posted very clear directions online, and had many large signs out (like an entire bus side) showing the correct route to us. GPS liked to take a 1/8 mile shortcut that had an active ford in it. The truck guys thought it was great, the BMW convertible types not so much. My old Saturn SL2 did it, but the undertray was sacrificed eventually.
Love the half doors
Nope, sunburn sucks and it gets too hot. I’ll stick to wheelin’ with the top up. But I respect your opinion and your choices.
Winter is the proper time for convertibles in the SW.
Driving my K-car LeBaron convert. in NYC at night in the summer is just as exceptional. Converts are like boats, every drive can, if you want it to, seem like an adventure, an event, an outing. I have had many different ones, need to get a better for my new location in the Rockies.
I love convertibles. 3 of my fleet of 4 vehicles are convertibles. My TJ is great because i have the hard top for winter and soft top for summer. I actually gotta get the hard top off. Anybody want to come over and help me wrangle it off?
If you’re in Metro Detroit I have extensive experience in Jeep hardtop removal. If you are anywhere else sorry I’m busy that day.
Alas, I am in Canada, close to Niagara Falls.
If you have a garage just do what I did – I hung ratchet straps from the rafters, backed in my wifes 4xe Rubicon and took the top off by myself. My JK Wrangler is too tall to get into my garage to do that – it takes three people to lift it off and set it on the cart I made to wheel it around.
I have been considering rigging up a thing like that in my garage. I have a TJ so, fortunately, it is a smaller, lighter top than the 4 doors.
Common, a quick trip to Windsor and across! That’s like next door in non-southern Ontario Canadia!
“A supercar is a vehicle that performs its intended purpose better than pretty much anything else out there”
Riding lawn mower? Supercar.
Dump truck? Supercar.
Baggage tractor? Supercar.
Hot air balloon? Supercar.
Tug boat? Supercar.
Lamborghini Countach? Not a supercar.
Ferrari Testarossa? Not a supercar.
Hmm, this definition seems off.
I asked the Supreme Court to grant a writ of certiorari and they actually wrote back to me with the following:
“No need for us to hear the case, as we’ll give you answer right now: That is the correct definition of a supercar!”
There you have it. Straight from the Supreme Court.
oh, so it’s wrong
Touche. I’ll give you that.
All joking aside, I honestly do agree with David Tracy. I get that people traditionally associate “supercar” with all the ridiculously expensive track cars etc al, but as far as I’m concerned, The Morrvair and heavy wrecker from the MORR folks in Utah are two of the coolest damn cars on the planet, and they’re super cars.
Just like how holy grails are everywhere, supercars are a dime a dozen.
Just beware the grail-shaped lanterns.
Summer 1991 heading into senior year
88-1/2 Suzuki Samurai, top town
Loaded up with my best friend and our gals
A clear night in the middle of nowhere
Tearing across some random field
Way faster than we had any business going
The only complaint I have about driving convertibles is that my face is always sore for a couple of days after from all the grinning.
I’m a huge advocate of convertibles in general. You are correct, there’s just nothing quite like the freedom of having the top down. I’d personally rather have a small roadster with a stick than a drop top off-roader, but different strokes for different folks. I absolutely understand the value in this sort of experience as well, and I do love the outdoors. That being said I am absolutely in the glamping/lodge phase of my outdoorsy-ness and I will apologize to NO ONE!
Anyway, convertibles have been dying a slow death for years now. 25 years ago manufacturers made countless drop top versions of regular cars…like the Solera, Sebring, hell there was a Cavalier convertible, Saab and Volvo convertibles, the list is long. Unfortunately people don’t really want them anymore, and I think that’s a shame. Really all that’s left that you can buy new for a reasonable-ish price are the Mustang, Wrangler, Bronco, and Miata.
It’s sad because it’s such a quintessential driving experience that fewer people are having…and I personally don’t really buy the enthusiast argument I see all the time that they’re not worth the loss of structural rigidity. You really aren’t going to feel any difference unless you’re on a track. But to wrap things up…convertibles GOOD and are something everyone deserves to experience.
It doesn’t even need to be a true convertible. T-roofs and targa tops provide similar joy.
I remember driving my 85 300ZX on a back road. It was a warm fall day, and the colours were spectacular, with leaves floating down from the trees. Wonderful.
Same car, different drive. I was on the two-lane highway back from my parents’ place on a comfortable summer evening. I fell in line with a Fox body Mustang GT and an Eagle Vision. We drove as a team the whole way back to Ottawa at extra-legal speeds, but smoothly, safely, and with my t-roofs out, very enjoyably — a beautiful road in beautiful weather.
When I finally get my project car, I can’t guarantee it will have a removable roof, but I really want it to.
I’ve owned Targas and T-tops, and while they’re similar and serve as excellent compromises, they’re also nowhere nearly the same level of experience because you can always tell that they’re a compromise.
Doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy the experience.
it’s similar like water and vodka. they kinda look the same, but the effect is very different.
Having owned T-tops, a targa and true convertibles, I agree that all are great, but have their own strengths. I will always prefer a soft top convertible, it’s just easier than removing the t-tops and lugging them around to put in the trunk, and the removable targa didn’t fit in the car so it had to be left at home which was annoying, the soft top is just easier, quicker, and in my experience, leaks less.
David, you’re spot on regarding convertibles. As a long time Miata owner, it’s a wonderful feeling driving top down….even in the winter when it’s 40 degrees.
Just an FYI, I saw this morning that the World’s Oldest Living Thing lives in the White Mountains in California. The US Forest Service doesn’t publicize it’s location for obvious reasons, but maybe you passed by it.
Methusela is a Pristlecone Pine tree and is estimated to be about 5,000 years old, which makes it only slightly older than some of your vehicles…..
My attitude about when to take the top down has always been “if the weather is good enough for a snowmobile, it’s good enough to take the top down”.
Stress melts in the winter when the top comes down just as quickly as in the summer. Be sure to bring blankets and a warm hat. 😉
I’ll never not own a convertible.
Amen. I only limit putting the top down if it’s too cold and the top gets too rigid to lower it. I find with the windows up and the heater on, I’m comfortable.
That’s one of the great things about having a convertible with a rotary engine… They generate LOTS of heat
I think Torch made the supercar suggestion on Jalopnik a LONG time ago. Someone did at least.
Added weird magic available with no doors and the windshield folded, if the conditions are suitable.
Maybe down there the climate works a lot better for it. While I enjoyed a few times back in the ’90s in a larger, floating convertible (I think it better fits the relaxed nature than a sports car), the useful days for them are even rarer as the weather has gotten less predictable, more variable throughout a day, and more extreme (didn’t even need AC and now I couldn’t live without it in the summer). Today, it’s usually either freezing, raining, snowing, swamp ass humidity, or bug season (sometimes multiples within a day, within a few hours, even) plus for the brief decent smells of plants or the ocean (that I can get with the windows down in a closed roof), there’s fifty scumbags smoking legal weed or the ubiquitous diesel truck. Plus, there’s skin damage and I don’t want to put sunscreen all over me just to go for a drive.
There’s also not much for offroad that I know of that couldn’t be tackled by something better to drive than a Wrangler, which was one of the worst vehicles I’ve ever driven (IIRC, the same type with the rectangular headlights) and it had low miles and was in great condition. I’ll grant it had some charm, there’s probably little else under 90 years old that offers a similar experience, and I’m sure they’re great in the right time and place, so I can see why other people like them. That’s why I rate it as better than the ’16 Kia Rio rental I had—a charmless, goofy-looking, cheap-feeling, gas-eating (never got more than 23mpg in a tinny car with a weed-eater motor), uncomfortable embarrassment that was dangerously slow thanks to seriously delayed drivetrain response and no low end torque that sucked in any time and place.
The opposite of supercar would apply to the Kia Rio, which does nothing well. Unfortunately, there are no two-syllable synonyms for “unsatisfactory” that would combine with “car” to create the term. Noxiouscar? Wretchedcar? Dreadfulcar?
How about -mobile… Dreadfulmobile, Awfulmobile… that’s better, and sounds like something GM would mass-produce.
I’ve been in cars sold twice over as parts cars that were being driven on the street, with doors that would fly open on turns, and all manner of failing components that could result in a crash if they failed and I still rank that (then brand new) Kia as the worst vehicle I’ve ever driven or been in. Economy cars in the ’80s might not have passed the safety standards of 2016, but they were so superior (short of maybe a few especially terrible domestic ones) in every other way even comparing with one with decades under its belt that I wouldn’t care in the least. What really got me, though, was the mileage! I never got that low even with cars with more than double the power (I highly doubt the rated number of the Kia, anyway, since the power:weight should have meant a lot better performance even allowing for the lack of low end and hesitation). I’m pretty sure I even did better with my brick-aero 260Z with all kinds of vacuum leaks from the notorious carbs that caused it to run rich enough to foul the plugs on the highway. For that dangerously gutless and hesitating 1.6 and CVT drivetrain that would probably fail early on seeing as it was a Kia, you got mileage that an ’80s Caprice V8 could beat. Holy Athena did I hate that car!
I strongly believe that a convertible top virtually makes any car better. We recently bought a Wrangler 4xe, which was my return to convertibles after about 10 years without one not counting a few rentals along the way.
We took it to a nearby off road area here in Western NC. It was a little stressful, since I am pretty novice off road driver, but we made it through unscathed. we saw two other vehicles the entire time we were out, it was 75 degrees we had the top down, and ran electric only the entire time. It was a very unique experience to crawl over the terrain, with minimal extra noise.
I knew how much I issued being able to put the top down on the way home after a stressful day, but being able to do it again has been great.
For my wedding, we rented a convertible instead of a limo. I was driving to the church in my tux on a sunny, summer day in Vermont. It was so nice that when I drove past the church, I thought: “wow, someone else is getting married today too.” Then it dawned on me that it was the church I needed to be at and turned around.
I wouldn’t tell my bride that story…or yours
COTD
Driving anywhere – even the grocery store – is better in a convertible.
Does get a little loud with the plastic bags in the back seat, but maybe that’s just my 52 year old land barge with the aerodynamics of a brick.
Driving around a city late at night with the top down and the music on is one of THE great driving experiences. I love convertibles.
This extremely specific vibe: https://youtu.be/-aMCzRj3Syg?si=V6nBvRnk65LgtdI8
I’m with you, but extend that to driving at night with the top down at night anywhere. Whether this was a Chrysler LeBaron driving the back roads through corn fields in high school, a Mustang GT around hilly lake roads in the UP, or a TJ around University of Illinois, all have there own memories, and are almost stress relieving just thinking about them.
My favorite top down drive is on a winding road in the woods during a crisp Fall afternoon. The beautiful foliage overhead, the dry leaves crunching under your tires, it’s awesome.
I have a playlist called Night Drive that has been curated within an inch of its life for this very purpose.
My first experience in a convertible was in the backwoods of Canada, riding in the back seat of a borrowed 1950s or early 1960s model convertible, staring up at the Aurora Borealis as my father drove us from our rented cabin site to a remote lake shore. The cold night air only enhanced the sense of the vast, empty, beautiful universe around us.
I enjoyed that twenty minute drive more than the hours around a campfire that followed. Night driving in a convertible is the best.
I only had a sunroof, but used to love taking a drive out to the middle of nowhere with the roof open and windows down. Music playing, no one around, it was great.
Agreed… My favorite time to drive my convertible is on a summer evening after it gets dark. Everyone should get this experience!
Would I enjoy this? Yes
Would I want to daily a YJ? No.
Would I enjoy this enough to support and maintain a YJ as a 2nd vehicle? Probably not
This was my thought too. I’d probably rather just have a regular old convertible and skip the offroad part. I drove a TJ on a highway before, it is not good for anything except the offroad stuff.
Plus unlike the Southwest with its abundance of federal lands, I believe the offroad opportunities are far sparser around here.
I will testify. I drove the Scout 180 miles yesterday, 90 of which were softtop down, in lovely May sunshine through Southern Maryland. I gave myself a nice sunburn on my arms and face, as a matter of fact, so I put the bikini top up for the ride home. There’s nothing like the smell of pine, salt air, freshly turned earth, and honeysuckle blowing through the cabin at 65mph.
Hell yeah!
Not true off-roading, but I’ve taken my convertible down several fire roads I know aren’t too rough with the top down. So much sensory overload I’d be going slow even if it wasn’t rough. Pull over at a turnout, and walk a little ways from the cooling, ticking car. Stop and just listen and be: soak in the numinous…
Bonus point for numinous.
I haven’t been off-roading in a convertible, but have been on a lot of trails on two wheels.
One thing that stands out for me is the accessibility of smells: pine, deciduous leaves, flowers, etc. etc. Even with a full-face helmet, the olfactory experience is much more immediate than being in a vehicle with the windows down. I imagine it must be like that in a convertible as well.
Glad you had a great time out there!
Totally. The smells are key!
Smells are especially key with old British roadsters. It’s like an olfactory CEL and OBD in one.
You can also fart freely and no one will know….
This is highly underrated…
Up until now, I only had made it my preference to drive open top on any possible drive. Now you have given me ideas, might have to try off-roading at the same time.
Here the reasoning for open air motoring. Being realistic, driving has become more of a chore than a pleasure degrading year after year, mostly because restrictions and enforcement has become more widespread.
It’s almost comical that I have better averages for most routes from 30 years ago vs today and that was “back then” with much less power but also less restrictions and less overall enforcement.
The sensatory stimulation from noise, wind, sun, cold and even smells is a whole new dimension to the driving experience. Being able to quickly get a 360 of your surrounding by just turning your head, the texture of the underside of trees as you drive along an alley, the fresh air on a mountain pass, great impressions.
Discussing with a friend, we came to the conclusion even though a convertible also means compromises…it is so much more likely for you to experience this one drive that makes this particular car unforgettable.
It could be a midnight drive through fields of flowers after a rain and getting soaked with intense smell and electrified air or the drive to the last day of skiing at the end of May already feeling the sun developing some power but still chills from the remaining snow on the shady side of road.
Everyone should own a convertible once in their life!
what are the compromises? not as much trunk room? ok. the chassis doesn’t have the rigidity of a fixed roof. ok. Fabric roof has to be replaced at some point? ok. can’t think of anything else. not compromises, just different.
Respect, You are good at this! Usually it costs a bit more in the first place, certain engines/packages are not available, 4 seats are not that common (I have family to take to places, I hear they are nice people), 4 doors super hard to get ahold of (Lincoln, Mercedes 300 and 600, some Offroaders maybe?). However!!!! Superhandy to load lumber (up to 12′ in length) at the yard
Couldn’t agree more – I used to love exploring the Eastern Sierras and desert in northern Nevada in a TJ. I took it some crazy places and never got stuck. Having the top down definitely added to the experience. It was a kinda terrible car for anything other than this use, but for exploring on sketchy roads, usually by myself, it was the perfect vehicle.