Add Sunshine, Be Stirred

2005 Ford Mustang Convertible

SANTA MONICA

It's hard to love a convertible in wind and rain, hard to enjoy it in a land of sodden hills ready to tumble with the next downpour.

Mudslides offer no incentive to lower the roof, not even the clever Z-fold top of the 2005 Ford Mustang GT.

We kept the top up, which was reasonable under the circumstances, although we knew its vinyl and cloth composition provided little protection against anything except chilled raindrops. That was enough.

Unexpected bad weather had beaten down expectations of fun. The convertible was hot. The climate was not. We compromised -- settled for a leak-proof roof, a heating system that worked efficiently, tires that gripped muddy roads and brakes that worked well.

We got all of those things and more in the new Mustang GT convertible -- a rear-wheel-drive car equipped with a 300-horsepower V-8 engine. A brief run in a 210-horsepower V-6 version of the car also demonstrated its foul-weather competence.

But who buys a convertible to be used as a raincoat? There is nothing romantic or wind-in-your-hair about that. That is why there are relatively few convertibles in wintry states such as Maine, Minnesota and Nebraska.

For opposite reasons, that is why we, automotive journalists in pursuit of the next best thing, came to Southern California to take a spin in Ford Motor Co.'s latest offering of the Mustang, which has been around in one form or another since April 1964. We came in pursuit of sun, balmy breezes and sinuous curves.

But we were greeted by frigid, wet reality -- reminded beyond forgetting, by tragic reports in the cases of some area residents whose lives and homes were buried beneath rain-laden earth, that convertibles are motorized acts of faith, four-wheeled odes to optimism.

You've got to believe good times are ahead when you buy a convertible. You've got to hope the sun will shine, that clouds will be few.

Pessimists don't buy convertibles. For them there is the concept Ford SynUS (ironically pronounced "sinuous") -- a small, hideously squared armored vehicle that was introduced in Detroit this week at the North American International Auto Show.

Ford says the SynUS is for "young, independent drivers in modern cities." Judging from the unfriendly design of that mini-tank, some people at Ford apparently think modern cities are endless combat zones.

It seems odd that the same car company could turn out two vehicles that convey such radically different views of society -- the Mustang convertible, which seems joyful, open and inviting even in rainstorms; and the SynUS, a thing of brooding visage that should be offered with storm clouds and "Keep Out" signs as standard equipment.

I'd rather wait for the sun, either here or back home in Northern Virginia. I'd prefer to hold out for a bright, mild day when it makes sense to push the button that neatly collapses the new Mustang convertible's top in the manner of a "Z," thereby concealing the underside of the ragtop and allowing an unfettered rear view of traffic.

Although handling on wet roads was good in the test models, it was nonetheless curbed by driver caution. Anti-lock brakes and traction control, both of which mitigate driver error and prevent loss of driver control, are standard items on the Mustang GT convertible and are optional on the V-6.

Those systems do exactly what they are designed to do. But they are not designed to overcome the laws of physics, compliance with which remains a matter of driver responsibility, especially on slippery roads.

Put another way, even in rigidly constructed cars such as the Mustang GT convertible, you must slow down on wet, muddy roads to avoid dangerous skids.

Dry roads are something else. They offer better tire-road adhesion, which means you can boost your speed (advisedly within legal limits) and get a better feel for the car's performance and handling characteristics. We -- at least those of us who have no desire to turn test drives into funeral processions -- could not drive the Mustang convertibles as fast as we had wished to drive them here.

But there are reasons to believe in an eventual spring, to envision pristine days with azure skies. When they come, I plan to take the Mustangs out for long runs with tops down in praise of the sun.