I sometimes drive my convertible naked too. I've found that the temperature really has to be about 80F to be comfortable with all that wind, so that limits me to a few weeks each summer. I have driven naked and top down through town on sunny afternoons. I stop at traffic lights and watch pedestrians walk past. I've never had any negative comments. Most people don't bother to notice. Its easy to see someone doesn't have a shirt, but harder to see if someone doesn't have pants without actually looking.
Bob
The last time that I drove a convertible naked, I was under a hot Utah sun in Zion NP with the temps holding around 105F. Top-down induced hypothermia of which you speak Bob, was not on my radar for those days! I had flown out that way two years ago in June to float the Grand Canyon naked for ten days on a powered rafting trip, a life changing experience in itself. As a kind of afterparty, my friend Milton joined me from back east along with friend Mike from the local area to do another week of nude backpacking and car camping on the North Rim of the Canyon and in the Grand Staircase Escalante.
A high point of this "after trip" for me was solo climbing Vulcan's Throne on the North Rim one comfortably warm morning. The temperature had only just broken 100F at that early hour, yet the large flat sulfurous stones and loose gravel that comprise this ancient cinder cone where already too hot to sit and take a break upon with bare butt due to the heat retained from the previous day. With unrelenting heat baking my body from both below and above, I firmly believe, having ample water with me, that I was definitely most comfortable doing this naked. The agility allowed my body, being naked was also a welcome plus when scrambling up (or down) this very loose footing......think climbing a stinking pile of loose gravel just dumped from a truck, but 600 feet high.....four steps slid back for every five steps attempted forward, sinking ankle deep in my VFFs. Coming down was like bare-foot skiing on molten dragon's scales. Do you suppose JBee, that I should complain to Vibrams because my toe shoes don't last as long as perhaps they should? The fresh morning breeze caught at the summit was manna from heaven when I achieved my goal and the 360 view of the Grand Canyon and both rims was astounding! I sat upon my daypack atop the summit for a while, meditating, then spellbound, taking in the view. Eventually with both the sun and the heat rising further, I thought it best to head back to camp for a late and well earned breakfast.
Because of non-synching flight arrangements home between Milt and myself, I was left with a few more days to explore Zion solo which I took ample advantage of. Because this magnificent park is now being somewhat overloved, I had to cover while hiking some parts of the more popular trails that I was able to explore in my limited time there, but Milt (before he flew home) and I still found plenty of opportunity to freehike some of the remoter sections. I was also later able to explore some side canyons that lead up out of the Virgin Narrows, unhindered by costume. Zion is such an amazing place that it is soooo worth braving the textile crowds to experience.
To get back to my original story, I had reserved to rent a cheap economy car for the three days. When I went to pick it up on a 110F day in the town of Hurricane, the best excuse for a economy model that they had on the lot was a Mustang GT convertible. I took it without moaning very much. Well, the only time that top was up was when I had to park and lock. And nearly the only time that I thought about putting on my skirt those three days while I had the car was when I was to be out on foot joining the textile tourists in the lines for the shuttle buses in the park or walking around surrounding towns where I lodged. I will admit, if no one here threatens to report me to the Green Police, that the air conditioning in an open top Mustang GT works quite well. And there is certainly enough power in that five litre engine to run it.
Like you Bob, I suppose that I might have been seen occasionally as I enjoyed the Scenic Drive road that winds through the main section of the Zion, the park's awesome red cliffs towering above my open top. Certainly viewing those majestic creations of nature is best done in an open car, if one can not spare the time to hike them. No one seemed to notice or care about my attire. My theory is that many people amble through life seeing only what they expect to see. In any case it was just too damn hot those days for anyone to make a fuss. That was a wonderful two and a half weeks naked adventure out west, that I shall long remember and treasure. And the GT convertible, just some icing on the cake....be it a bit drippy and gooey.
-Dan
