Whatever your take on the Mustang, it's a recipe that's served Ford fantastically well over the last four decades. Since 1965 almost eight million Mustangs have been built, and while you might be surprised to hear that less than one million of them are convertible, the drop-top Mustang remains an iconic machine, in its home country at least.

That's not to say it's an unappealing concept in the UK either, for, as with the coupe, there's something irresistible about the Mustang's simplicity and lack of pretence. It's a good-time car: affordable, enjoyable, quick and cool.

What it most definitely isn't is cutting-edge. While even small Peugeot's now come with folding metal roofs, the Mustang gets good old-fashioned canvas, although the hood is powered and does have a glass rear window. Roof down, there's surprisingly little buffeting, so long as you keep the front windows up, but the hoped-for aural bonus of no roof and an evocative soundtrack never quite materialises, as the mellow woofle is soon lost to the slipstream. Still, there is a decent-sized boot and reasonable room for four, which makes it a more practical option than its natural rival, the strictly two-seat Nissan 350Z.

As in the Mustang coupe range, there is a 4-litre V6 Convertible model, but to be brutally honest why would you bother when there's the GT version, powered by Ford's simple but effective 4.6-litre V8. This provides a healthy 300bhp and 320lb ft of torque to play with in the equally simple but effective front-engined, rear-drive chassis, complete with its three-link 'live' rear axle. In five-speed manual form (as tested) that's good enough for a mighty impressive 0-60mph time of a shade over 5.0sec and a top speed of 143mph, making it comfortably more accelerative than both the 350Z Convertible and the Porsche Boxster.

Handling-wise the Convertible feels on the soft side, but tidy and involving nonetheless. There's good feel through the assisted steering, and while it's not what you'd call pointy, given the nature of the car as a whole the front-end's response is suitably measured rather than slow-witted. Grip levels are modest, thanks to relatively high side-walled 235/55 Pirelli P Zero Nero tyres, but the chassis is well-balanced and satisfyingly throttle-sensitive. The portly rubber might not do much for instant turn-in, but it does help the ride comfort, which is just as well as the structure shivers over potholes and ridges, particularly when it's a single-wheel that absorbs the impact.

Dynamically, then, the Convertible is far from the over-engined jelly you might expect, but our experience of the coupe suggests that over a demanding piece of road the Convertible never feels as keen, controlled or cohesive as its tin-top brother. But then the Mustang's hardly alone there, as you could say the same of BMW's M3 and M3 Cabrio. At the end of the day, if you enjoy open-air driving then you're happy to make the compromise that comes with it.

Sadly, unless you're prepared to import one yourself, the Mustang Convertible is of academic interest, for there's no sign of Ford committing to sell Mustangs in the UK, at least in the short term. However, if you're the kind of stout soul who's not afraid to go the extra mile in search of something different, there are plenty of reasons why you should put prejudice aside and seriously think about Ford's legendary soft-top. The snob in you would hate it, but take it from us, the rest of you would love it.