The other day a guy asked me why women seemed to love convertibles more than men do.
“Probably,” I responded, “for the same reason men love Porsches. They think it enhances the pull factor.”
He didn't say another word.
Not, I hasten to add, that they're ideal (convertibles, that is, but you can include men in there as well). Drop-tops normally come with two doors so, if you've got a family, they're a pain in the butt. There's also usually restricted space in the back and even less boot space.
Plus, let's be honest, apart from the odd boogie along the beachfront on a summer day at a sedate speed, convertibles just aren't terribly practical in this country.
But they look so damn good. The Volvo C70 T5 is a prime example. It's beautiful: refined and sculpted both inside and out, it's also bigger than most convertibles, with loads more legroom in the rear and a wonderfully spacious driving area.
My daughter, who has problematic, ultra sensitive hearing, found it - as she does most drop-tops - noisy, but conversely, she'd have me rev a V8, any V8, incessantly if she could, because she gets such a kick out of the engine!
Road and suspension noise is an occupational hazard of these cars, so you live with it. The rest makes up for it: the exceptional performance and road-holding, the gearbox and the power from the sporty, five-cylinder, 2.5-litre turbopetrol engine (169kW at 5000rpm and 320Nm at 5000rpm).
When a large container fell off a bakkie two cars in front of me in the fast lane the other morning, and the guy in front hit anchors, I had nowhere to go except into the left lane, where there was a car, but I prayed, hit the accelerator and swung left. Amazingly, we were all unscathed, but I wondered if a less sophisticated car's responses would have been as flawless and efficient.
Another point in the C70's favour is the ample boot space, which is large enough to accommodate a golf bag and clubs. By the way, girls, there's a trick to pulling and hooking out the folding out tray in the boot before you can drop the roof: it took my 12-year-old about five minutes to work it out but I had been fiddling with it, holding the manual in one hand, for about 15 minutes…
Fuel consumption? Well, not brilliant in the city, which is where I drove it. The T5 will slurp 13.9 litres/100km in traffic, although the maker says you'll get better figures in the combined cycle: 9.3 litres/100km. But then, if you're splurging R547 000 on a car like this, that won't worry you.