Britain is a nation of sun worshippers. As soon as the summer sun starts shining, Britons start peeling: their clothes first, then their skin.
During lunch break, office canteens look like the decks of the Marie Celeste, deserted and forlorn. The employees do not want to stay indoors when the sun shines; they flock to the parks to sprawl on the grass in various states of undress in the pursuit of rays. The budget airlines Ryanair and easyJet thrive because Britons cannot wait to fly to sunny destinations in the Mediterranean from Palermo to Perpignan.
Now comes more compelling evidence of Britons' love of the sun. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) today reports that sales of convertibles, which have more than doubled in five years to 117,000 last year, accounted for 6% of total car sales in May, a new record.
In fact, Britain has become Europe's largest single market for convertible cars on a per capita basis. In the first five months of 2005, sales of convertibles hit 52,000, almost as 10 times as the numbers bought in Spain and twice as many bought in Italy. Germans buy more convertibles, but Britain still comes ahead on a per capita basis.
No wonder car companies mount splashy marketing campaigns for convertibles in the UK. Saab ran a highly seductive ad for its convertibles featuring Bobby Womack's version of the Mamas and the Papas hit California Dreaming.
Apart from their predilection for the sun, could it be that convertibles touch a romantic nerve among Britons? It's not such a preposterous thought as the perspicacious Henry James detected such a romantic streak in Portrait of a Lady.
Those who want a more hard-headed or mundane explanation for Britain's infatuation with convertibles need look no further than the one given by the SMMT: "In Spain and Italy it's probably too hot to drive with the top down."
