Despite being unfriendly to comb-overs, the convertible has long had the reputation of being the toupee of the car industry. A quixotic purchase, with your youth standing in for the windmills in the distance. Sancho Panza? Your shotgun-riding trophy wife.  Perhaps it's because of their reputation—finicky, leaking rag tops; unbearably cold and drafty cabins; virtually nonexistent trunk space—that convertibles seem to skew toward empty-nesters or perpetual bachelors of the Just for Men set as second or third joyride vehicles.  I guess I'm addressing the newish car buyer here, but the advice applies to anyone scared off by the seemingly impractical nature of convertibles. The truth is, these days, because of retractable hardtops and ground-up engineering—fewer convertibles are sloppy hatchet jobs performed to standard vehicles—the sacrifice you make on comfort, space and performance is far less than what it was just a decade ago. With the right car, getting the sun to dapple your interior, the wind to blow through your hair and every other convertible cliché, is painless.  We've gathered a few of the more practical models here. And by practical we don't mean boring. Usually when topless cars aim for convenience, bad things happen—Google "PT Cruiser convertible" and you'll see what we mean—but these five machines are worthy of the family, your ego and your tan.  A man in an Escalade pulls up to me on La Cienaga Boulevard. "Are you going to pick up...some ladies?" He counts. "You have room for one, two, three of them!" Yes, the Ferrari California is the perfect car for those times you need to transport three certain special someones. But purists will say it's hardly a Ferrari at all: It weighs nearly two tons; it has a V-8, not a V-12; it's only available in a dual clutch, semi-automated manual transmission. No stick! Which is why, dare I say, it's the perfect Ferrari for the family.  Family. Ferrari. Those two words are like oil and water, but in truth, this is a wonderful everyday car. I pick up my wife at the airport and, even with the roof down, the luggage fits without a problem. We meet up with a friend to cruise Santa Monica. Astonishingly there is enough rear-seat room for humans larger than Kate Moss. And all of those highway-expansion joints that plague Los Angeles? The California growls over them like a champ. What makes this my favorite Ferrari—I haven't driven the FF yet, mind you—is that it still has much of what's great about a Ferrari (it goes 0-60 in 3.8 seconds; its engine sounds like a pride of lions being flogged in unison) and little of the discomfort that keeps it from being a car that can transport, in comfort, three friends, three kids or three...ladies.  Base price: $192,000; Trunk volume: 9.18 cubic feet (top down); 12 cubic feet (top up)  Let's just get to the obvious: The CrossCab is one of the most absurd cars to come out in recent history. A crossover? That has two doors? That's a convertible? This car (can you even call it a car?) dives deep into the abyss of niche-ness. Silly, you say. But then sit in the back, in a seat that's fit for a king—soft leather, La-Z-Boy proportions—and then imagine enjoying a ride to the beach in such spacious surroundings. This is how the pope must feel in a parade, you think. And what seemed ridiculous now seems sublime. Yes, $47,200 is steep for a Nissan, but the only vehicle that comes close to having this open-air, back seat experience is the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé (see below). Or, yeah, the popemobile.  Base price: $47,200; Trunk volume: 7.6 cubic feet (top down); 12.3 cubic feet (top up)  It has heated seats that adjust in 14 directions. A genius "AIRCAP" wind deflector that, like magic, keeps the air inside the cabin calm no matter what your speed. (You won't arrive at your destination looking like Albert Einstein.) An "Airscarf," located in the shoulders of the front seats, blankets you from the neck down in warm air for those cool, nighttime, star-gazing spins. And if it rains, simply pop up the three-layer, nearly inch-thick cloth top—it closes (and opens) in just 20 seconds and the interior becomes astonishingly quiet. Every annoyance you could think of in a convertible? The E350 Cabriolet doesn't have them. They've been surgically removed by Mercedes engineers.  Base price: $56,850; Trunk volume: 8.8 cubic feet (top down); 11.5 cubic feet (top up)  Look at the grill—it has whiskers! This is arguably the cutest car on the planet. What's practical about it? For one thing, it's incredibly affordable—the Pop Model, which starts at $19,500, is the least expensive four-seat convertible on the market. But mostly, it's the roof. It can be retracted at various different points (at up to 60 miles per hour) should you want less or more open air. And when fully retracted it folds neatly above the rear decklid so as not to protrude into the trunk of the car. Plus, think of all the parking spaces you'll snag.  Base price: $19,500; Trunk volume: 5.4 cubic feet (top down or up)  You could call it a land yacht. A sisal rug on wheels. The classiest car ever with a tailgate. (Granted it works better as a picnic table in the Hamptons than a bratwurst stand in the Meadowlands parking lot.) Or, simply, the most impressive, comfortable, convenient, luxurious convertible money can buy. And you'll need quite a bit of it. The DHC starts at $447,000, and with further customization, can cost over half a million dollars. But oh, you get so much for your dough. It has suicide-style coach doors that close at the push of a button. (Many of the buttons, all chrome, are elegantly modeled after flute keys.) The door jamb contains a hidden umbrella. Whether the cashmere-lined top is up or down, the car, true to it's name, is dead quiet. And the 6.75 liter V-12, despite outputting 453 bhp, emits all but a polite purr. How British.  Base price: $447,000. Trunk volume: 11.1 cubic feet (top up or down)  See the complete summer guide
Taking the top down on your car can be fun for your family, your luggage, your groceries (and your midlife crisis).