The air bag: Now is the time to get that convertible out

The winter months are when those with classics in the garage are in their element, particularly if the cars happen to be convertibles.

A classic convertible demands and receives much attention. Kevin Hackett for The National

Like many, I use social media to keep in touch with friends and ­family overseas and it's ­curious for me to see that those who own classic cars are putting them away for winter, storing them safe from the ravages of rain, snow and ice, as well as the salt that is used to keep roads ­usable for months on end. And, ­understandably, they're a bit ­depressed about it.

Yet here, the winter months are when those of us with classics in the garage are in our element, particularly if our cars happen to be convertibles. The sheer thrills of convertible motoring are there to be enjoyed and, if you haven’t already, it’s high time to drop that roof and keep it stowed.

I know a lady in Abu Dhabi who uses a classic convertible Mercedes-Benz as her daily ­driver, all year round, and I ­applaud this approach to ­motoring because it’s different. My own classic is bereft of air conditioning so that’s out of the question for me in the summer but, for the past three weeks, I have been using my TR6 almost every day, sans roof. I’ve used it for the office commute, as a taxi for my son when he was here visiting, as well as transport to the airport – something deemed by my wife to be a risky proposition, but the thing hasn’t missed a beat.

Within these pages I have been extolling the virtues of classic cars for some time now and for good reason: it’s a scene that’s slowly but surely gathering pace here in the UAE. Evidence, should any be required by the naysayers, was to be found at the recent Dubai International Motor Show, where an entire exhibition hall was packed with some of the most iconic automobiles ever built. Despite all the shiny new metal on display by manufacturers, it was this classic display that got visitors really excited. But these cars should be used for more than mere static displays. They should be driven (sympathetically, of course) and enjoyed by their drivers and onlookers alike.

My skills as a driver are being improved by pootling around in an old-timer, too. Recently I executed a flawless drift on a roundabout at the top end of the Palm Jumeirah without even trying, and I can’t have been doing more than 20kph. Modern cars need to be driven at frankly insane speeds to extricate that kind of behaviour. The non-­assisted steering is heavy, the clutch takes some legwork and the brakes need gentle feathering – all things that new cars take care of for their drivers, robbing them of any involvement in the actual drive experience.

As for turning heads, nothing beats an old car. The aforementioned Merc owner is constantly batting off enquiries about how much she’ll sell it for, and I, too, have had a number of enquiries. I’m not ready, though. The car is proving far too much fun to simply let it go to the highest bidder, but it’s easy to see why people are drawn to these things. They’re different.

Just last week, while having lunch at Burj Al Arab, my friend told me to look out of the window over the area where the “nice” cars had been valet parked. There, nestling within a brace of Ferraris, Rolls-Royces and a Lamborghini, was my little orange runaround. Tourists were gathered around it, taking photos and leaving handprints on the bonnet while the exotica was unceremoniously ignored.

Just one more reason to keep it, then, and, more importantly, use it as often as possible while the glorious UAE winter weather permits. No matter how new or old your convertible is, now is the time to use it for what it’s built for – sans roof, of course.