It’s summer and time for open top cruising. Japanese mrques haven’t traditionally been known for convertibles, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t good options for being at one with the elements. Let’s include T-tops, targas, canvas tops, and other assorted breezy alternatives, as well as not-exactly factory conversions from the likes of ASC and similar firms. That should open up (no pun intended) the choices.
What’s your favorite JNC for open air driving?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Which Japanese car needs to be preserved for posterity?“.
The answers last week were wide-ranging, providing a solid cross section of Japanese automotive history. There were icons like BlitzPig‘s Honda Civic CVCC, Negishi no Keibajo‘s Datsun 510, Dillon‘s Toyota Sports 800, dankan‘s J70 Toyota Land Cruiser, daniel‘s Mazda Cosmo Sport, and Franxou‘s Lexus LFA. As a counterpoint, off-the-beaten-path choices filled in some of the missing marques, including StreetSpirit‘s Suzuki Cervo, エーイダン‘s LHD Prince Skyline, and Not Janeane Garofalo‘s Subaru Alcyone. For hallmarks of good design, take any one of Fred Langille‘s Nissan Pike Factory cars.
It was hard to pick just one winner, but this week’s winner was Jim Klein with a pithy retort about preserving for posterity:
Japanese cars take care of that all by themselves.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
Suzuki Cappuccino – but then I am biased. The best summary I’ve heard anyone say is “it makes a Miata feel like how a Miata makes other cars feel”
Miata Is Always The Answer…love my 2017 supercharged Sport Club edition
A yellow Honda Beat heading down the coast line, with The Blue Hearts on the tape deck and a mini cooler full of Pocari Sweat chilling in the trunk.
Isuzu Amigo is my choice. Plus, I have the option of having a V6.
Since I have one, Miata. Easy and safe choice, LOL.
Open air driving? Of course, open air driving in our ’89 Nissan S-Cargo! What, you say? How does a micro/kei/limited production van like the S-Cargo warrant a call to open air driving? It just so happens that, the cloth sunroof on our van, as one of only two options, the other being a Thunderbird-like porthole in the side, available for the S-Cargo. This canvas roof extends ALL THE WAY DOWN THE TOP OF THE VAN … front to rear, making it the biggest canvas roof ever on any vehicle! However, due to prior circumstances in which a previous owner, not the guy I bought it from, felt that the windscreen in front of the sunroof … they all came with one … had to go so, that a giant can of Red Bull could be mounted! As, the van had previously been used to advertise Red Bull in New Zealand (that’s, right, Kiwi-Land!), having been painted Red Bull Blue over the white it was originally, leaving the grey cladding to be painted white in contrast. What this removal did to the van’s driving was remarkable in the way that it forced the sunroof to open when running. This was problem atic on its trip here from Canada when we ran into the hurricane in upper New York state as the sunroof leaked profusely … on the passenger side where my wife sat! The sign is gone but the fasteners remain and, I have been looking for a replacement, not easy. I can attest that, due to the size of the canvas, it’s a hellova opening as one motors down the highway! But, until I can get a replacement and, removal of the fasteners, we have to shove it closed. I stays for a bit but, needs attention every so often. Open aire touring? Sigh … soon we hope, as the van is due for major repairs next year, for which this is one of them. But, if you consider the concept of a FOUR FOOT canvas sunroof open touring, well ….
My 1997 NA Miata. I have driven an S2000, an old Alfa Romeo Spider, an MR-S, an NC Miata, and ND Miata, but it’s my Miata that I’m going to keep til the end.
When I finished school and was looking for my first car, the Miata wasn’t originally in my vehicular trade study. However, one evening I was DD for a friend’s birthday, and he was pretty hammered (not to mention very lively) when I drove him home in his Miata. He dropped the soft top and made a scene of ourselves, and it became annoying. While I could have taken the city roads back to his place, I got fed up and instead jumped onto the freeway. The harder I drove it, the more he encouraged me to push it, and the more I started enjoying the car. By the time we got back to his place, I was dead set on buying a Miata.
My NA has been upgraded over the past 20 years, from suspension to drivetrain to structural rigidity to brakes to wheels / tires to interior. Two things I never touched – one was the engine, and that’s because I was originally commuting 60 miles daily, and was trying to live on the cheap by not paying for 91 octane. The other has been the exterior (save for OEM Miata R front / rear bumper aero), and that’s because I genuinely enjoy the way the car looks. Barn door headlights?, that’s why I bought the NA.
I have wrenched a majority of the car now, from: timing belts, engine-out oil pan reseal, clutch, suspension replacements, radiators, brakes / brake lines, roll bar, frame rails, audio, fuel injector rebuild, coil pack etc. It is straightforward to learn on, and I have used this car to teach my son and his Boy Scout colleagues how to change the motor oil as well as replace the spare tire. Speaking of spare, the car has NEVER left me stranded, even if it had to hobble home in the past. When people throw the sales pitch of “I’ll drive it cross country,” I mean it, even at its current 212k miles.
And when I drive it with the top down, it’s just a treat that can’t be substituted by anything else. Low window sills that allow you to comfortably rest my left elbow, a wonderful exhaust burble turns into a nice growl as I wind the engine, and “not enough” power that it ends up being a blessing in disguise. Why?, because after all these miles, that shifter is still… so……good. It’s so precise, so buttery smooth, but not too buttery because I still feel that wonderful mechanical “click clack” as it comes out of one gear and goes into another. My hands are treated to the NB Nardi leather steering wheel, a JoyFast leather e-brake handle, and an NB leather shift knob. I fit perfectly into a very well-used BRIDE Brix seat, and I get a sense of pride whenever I perform a well-executed heel-and-toe.
I’ve only driven with its top down at the track, and it’s clearly the way to do it. I’ve learned so much on driving it to the limits. I recall my last visit to Thunderhill Raceway in Northern CA, how I was literally sawing at the wheel at turn six, at the limits of adhesion. I was driving at Palmer Motorsports Track in central MA, and just hitting the apexes as hard as possible, something so easy to direct the car into.
I’m easily one of the smallest cars on the road out here in New England. It’s all I need.