[alfa] Re: Tops (NAC)

[Will Owen <nashwill912@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark Battley sez:

"This has always puzzled me.

"Given the much wetter climate in the UK compared to (most of) Italy, how
come the Italians were the ones who made hoods that worked well, whereas the
English ones were uniformly so bad???

"Doesn't make sense to me.."

Apparently, it has to do with the Englishman being so thoroughly acclimated to his climate: eighty degrees is blazing hot, sixty is warmish, forty rather cool, and anything short of a torrential frog-strangler is hardly worth putting up one's umbrella for, much less the hood on one's roadster. If one is outdoors on a typically pleasant day - say, fifty degrees and light rain - one will of course have dressed for it, with the proper mix of woolens and waterproofing. As for the better quality of Italian tops, roadsters in Italy are historically playthings for the spoiled rich, who (presumably) have better ways to demonstrate their manhood than by putting up with inconvenience and discomfort.

Interesting that this question was posed by a New Zealander; a friend of ours married a man who has a house in Auckland, and was astounded to find it had neither central heat nor air conditioning. Although he was perfectly willing to have these things installed, it took them forever to find anyone who could or would do the work, as (she told us) central heat is uncommon there, and AC in a residence almost unheard-of.

Will Owen
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