Why are there so few convertible (soft top) vehicles in Kenya? Isn’t our climate more suitable than in many places where they are popular?
Perhaps our climate is too good! We spend our time trying to get out of the sun, which is equatorially severe and UV-enriched by high ambient altitudes.
Other practical considerations include safety, security and strength. Convertibles are intrinsically less safe in many accident situations, less secure against theft, and their bodywork is less rigid.
We also have plenty of wildlife, including predators, four-legged grass eaters that are also battering rams, and kleptomanic monkeys with plenty of tooth and claw. But they are less of a threat than you might think; in South Africa, a high proportion of tour vehicles in game parks are open-topped.
The theory is that animals like lions do not see a 4WD full of tourists as “canned food”. They see the whole ensemble as a single entity, and it does not excite a carnivore’s salivary glands. A separate individual who steps away from the car is another matter…
While grumpy old bull buffaloes with toothache might ram the vehicle, there is no reported instance of them trying to jump in, and primates will invade as thieves, not as thugs (though tempting any animal with their strength, speed and sharp equipment is ill-advised and illegal. Potential titbits should be kept out of sight).
Convertibles are almost universally associated with sports cars, which in turn are associated with speed and flashy driving styles, so they are at higher-than-average crash risk.
The lack of a reinforced steel roof is thus an extra issue, only partly catered for by stronger windscreen pillars and sometimes an overhead rollbar hoop that stays in place when the canvas cover is folded away.
Because a rigid roof (and all-the-way-up doorframes) is very much a part of the overall strength of a car body, in modern designs convertibles need stronger floorpans (and doorsill channels) amidships.
But in most instances, they will still be less protective of the occupants of the passenger compartment, and the rigidity of the overall bodyshell is inevitably compromised to some extent – an added factor in motoring environments that are less than smooth.
Kenya’s insurers seem to base premiums purely on price, irrespective of engine power and other technical or usage factors, so that particular cost is probably not the reason for so few convertibles in this market.
In some markets, the insurance premiums on cars of the same price can vary dramatically because of other factors ranging from cc to power-to-weight ratio, model, design, likely usage, NCAP ratings, parts pricing, etc.
As well as these specific factors some are penalised on group or marque statistical evidence, which would reflect the extra risk levels of different designs and their likely customer age and/or personality.
