Monday, July 19, 2010

Shame.

Had to run some errands earlier today.

I kept the top up on the Zed Drei and didn't feel too bad about it. The thermometer read 87°F, but humidity had to be around 90%, and that will take the starch right out of me. Thankfully, the Bimmer's A/C will let you hang a side of beef in the cockpit with the top raised.

I didn't feel too bad about it when Seth and Jared went by in the late-model Mustang drop-top, but when the enormous chromium Wurlitzer prow of a Seminole Red '59 Cadillac Eldorado wafted past in the oncoming lanes of Broad Ripple Avenue like a one-float parade, I did feel a little guilty about being buttoned under canvas...
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18 comments:

aczarnowski said...

The humidity is really killing me this year. I know it's the midwest and, yes, I'm supposed to be able to take it, but damn. The near 70 degree dew points are tough to push against day in an day out.

I must be getting older. I don't remember draining like this five years ago.

4:38 PM, July 19, 2010
Borepatch said...

Other than his 1894, the one thing I would really have liked to buy from Roy Rogers' auction was his 1964 canary-yellow rag-top Lincoln. The one with the suicide doors in back.

And like his 1894, it was no Safe Queen - he put 100,000 miles on it.

Sigh. You don't see that sort of thing these days.

5:34 PM, July 19, 2010
2yellowdogs said...

Never apologize or regret being comfortable while burning a little more fossil fuel. It's our God-given right.

If Seth, Jared and uncle Joe want to feel like they're breathing under water, that's their right. You just keep right on cruisin' in that sealed, cool, low-humidity environment and pop out fresh as a daisy when you arrive.

5:36 PM, July 19, 2010
Keads said...

I would not worry about it. I have a '67 Cad De Ville drop top and there is nothing worse than sitting at a stop light in 90 degree weather with the top down!

6:26 PM, July 19, 2010
Firehand said...

Up till a couple of days ago, when a lot of the ground water finally evaporated, we were having days of low-mid 90's with humidity in the 60's. Bloody awful miserable.

6:59 PM, July 19, 2010
Will said...

Weather in the San Jose area has temps swing from 58 to 80, and the humidity from 80% to 49% daily, this week. Humidity peaks about 9:am, and hits bottom about 3:pm

8:18 PM, July 19, 2010
Anonymous said...

If our world exploded, and a time capsule containing nothing but a cherry '59 Eldo ragtop was the only thing that made its way to some advanced civilization somewhere out in deep space...

I'd be satisfied that it would be a pretty good representation of what we were, and what we were capable of.

What an amazing work of art, as are many of its 1959 brethren; nice to see some appreciation for some of Detroit's finest examples as they are so often overshadowed by the iterations that came before and after.

AT

8:27 PM, July 19, 2010
Jay G said...

Al, I can truthfully say that in this instance, I agree with you 110%.

The 1959 Cadillac El Dorado - designed by THE man himself Harley Earl - is, bar none, my favorite automobile.

Someday I'm going to hit the lottery and rebuild one...

9:32 PM, July 19, 2010
Ed Foster said...

Or the reverse, blasting down to a dance at the shore with Ed Sedgewick in the old '62 Olds back in high school, in January, with the top down but the windows up.

Damn, did that puppy have a heater!

70 plus mph with the stars overhead, 15 degrees temp just beyond the windshield. with a windchill around what, minus 60 or more, and me warm as toast.

Didn't get any action that night, except for watching Harry P. Buick all over his shoes, but the ride was magic.

10:05 PM, July 19, 2010
deadcenter said...

Living the desert southwest, I find that the Northern European climate control system of my 330 drop top to be challenged by daily highs topping 110. I live 20 miles door to door, I set the temp at 59 and if I use the "Auto" fan setting, it will start ratcheting the fan speed down about 6 miles down the road while the temperature in the upper half of the cabin is still north of 90. Instead, I run the fan full throttle with the thermostat at 59 and only ratchet it down if necessary.

10:16 PM, July 19, 2010
Tam said...

My primitive '98 Z3, like a good roadster, doesn't have any luxo fluff such as thermostats and dual-zone independent temp controls or any of that: Just a rotary dial for temp, four fan speeds, and buttons for A/C and recirc. (And yet it has a power top for some odd reason...)

A/C in general doesn't work as well in a dry climate; cars down there would almost be better off with swamp coolers. ;)

10:25 PM, July 19, 2010
Anonymous said...

Jay G, It doesn't surprise me at all that you would be attracted to that beautiful vestige of unapologetic excess...

One thing though: I'm not sure what ol' H. Earl thought about it, but most fans of his crown jewel would cringe to see the object of their adoration called El Dorado instead of Eldorado.

AT

11:35 PM, July 19, 2010
Jay G said...

Heh. Must have been thinking about John Wayne along with Mr. Earl there...

6:26 AM, July 20, 2010
og said...

I had a 1961 Lincoln Continental Convertible. It was as big a ragtop as was ever made, and the only "Modern" rag with four doors.

Like the Caddie, the heater and A/C in the Lincoln were more than adequate to keep the vehicle warm or cool with the top DOWN. The Lincoln had an AC unit bigger than most window units, and aside from sunburning your head, you had a constant cool breeze INSIDE the car, no matter how hot it was. Conversely, it was not unusual nor uncomfortable to drive it top down in a snowstorm. You just had to protect the upholstery when you slowed down. 430 cubic inches of detroit iron, being fed by a two barrel carb the size of a lawnmower. Them was the days.

7:11 AM, July 20, 2010
perlhaqr said...

Ugh, humidity. I just took the Randy Cain class up in Nashua, NH. 95 degrees (ok.) and 75% humidity. Being from Albuquerque, that's about 10x as much water in the air as I'm used to. Dear fluffy lord that just took the sparkle right out of my eye.

8:59 AM, July 20, 2010
Lewis said...

'68 Coupe de Ville ragtop for me, back in the early 90s. I always expected to find Jimmy Hoffa when I opened the trunk, somewhere in there. It had been a shop project car, and had its problems, but man oh man. 22+ mpg on the highway, and when you wanted to pass someone, you just mashed the gas and it suddenly went lots, lots faster. No downshifting, just faster.

Misses it, we does.

2:16 PM, July 20, 2010
deadcenter said...

swamp coolers work well 'cept for monsoon season where the humidity creeps into double digits (40-60%). Growing up in Virginia, I tend to poke fun at the locals by rubbing thumb and forefinger and commenting that I can almost feel the moisture in the air.

i prefer dials or levers to "climate control" and i'm pretty sure the temperature sensor is below the dashboard about level with my knees, but the a/c in my '86 4runner can force me to change the settings faster than my ragtop. but, then I didn't buy it for the a/c.

10:14 PM, July 20, 2010
Tam said...

Og,

"Like the Caddie, the heater and A/C in the Lincoln were more than adequate to keep the vehicle warm or cool with the top DOWN."

The Bimmer will keep you COOL with the top down, but it won't dry the air with the top down. I've ridden plenty of old Detroit iron myself and, believe me, the A/C in the Z3 is every bit as good as any pre-'90 Motown sled in which I've ever been.

10:59 PM, July 20, 2010

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