11 FEBRUARY 1938, Page 40

The Return of the Open Car -

The most welcome development -is the return to favour of the open car. Not, of course, the old- familiar tourer with the swaying, leaking, draughty hood, but the type known alike as the drophead and cabriolet. It is really the most sensible form of carriage for all-the-year round motoring anywhere in Europe. The hood keeps out wind and weather just as well as a saloon, and when it is furled it makes the proper mountain touring car. Last summer, on a 5,000 miles tour in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Austria, I must have seen at least three of these carriages for every closed type, all belonging to natives. It has taken longer to get the design really satisfactory in this country; the main faults until now being incurable rattle and draught, to say nothing of the high cost of production, but judging from those 1938 models I have seen, we are catching up fast with our rivals.