Hey hat aficionados, as you know, we have extended summers here on Maui with the accompanying exposure to the sun. As my build gets closer to completion, I started thinking about what kind of head gear would work well in our cars to protect my thinning pate as well as my neck, ears and nose.
So, what do you like to wear on your head when driving? Pictures are appreciated!
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Mike, I think this would be proper attire in Hawaii. 
@Michael Pickett
(As he drops the microphone......)
This one may be a dual purpose choice. This is what "Odd Job" would use if he was driving a Speedster. Jim reminds me of him !...........Bruce
Google Tilley hats, made in Canada. Amazon carries some.
I have a Tilley's, same style as Ed's hat, but made of wool. It has fold down ear warmers for those cooler days.
I do have another full brimmed Tilley's that I use when I'm kayaking. I'll have to try it and see if it'll take the buffeting of open air motoring. I got that idea from Stan when he was here last year. He rolls with a full brimmed hat to protect his melon.
I usually never use hats, but as my hair keeps on falling out, I've been using them for more and more for sun and cold protection.
MusbJim posted:Mike, I think this would be proper attire in Hawaii.
Gotta have one!
edsnova posted:
Yep, got 2 on order. What else?
aircooled posted:This one may be a dual purpose choice. This is what "Odd Job" would use if he was driving a Speedster. Jim reminds me of him !...........Bruce
Now that is a good hat. Steampunk to the max and sun goggles for when you have to adjust your carbon arc headlamps!
Only @MusbJim could sport such a fruity fedora with aplomb - or even with a plum.
He has years of experience at it and is a professional. It's not for beginners.
Better to ease into Speedster driving with a simple baseball cap. It's cooler (thermally) than the English driving cap, so better suited to tropical climes. But, critically, it has a longer brim - necessary in a car with no visors of its own.
You'll probably be avoiding the midday heat, and when the sun is low, the more eye shade the better.
Unless you're our favorite Guamanian, of course.
The sun never sets on his impish empire.
mppickett posted:MusbJim posted:Mike, I think this would be proper attire in Hawaii.
Gotta have one!
I believe that is a product of the Leon Chupp haberdashery. It’s a special order product not shown in their catalog.
I have the same hat as Carlos. It works nicely, and the fold-down ear flaps are awesome for extending the season's comfort level. It does not want to fly off my head...
On cool days here in Maine it's a Tilley newsboy in Harris Tweed, on warmer days it's a ball cap. But on Maui, how about a Malo and a Coconut Hat, one for this and the other for that? I know, Pupule brah.
I have one similar to Ed that I bought on a trip to Ireland, but haven’t yet worn it in the Speedster. Every baseball cap I have tends to try to blow off at anything over 30mph, so I ended up with a bare-top “surfer hat” like what Jim wears on non-pineapple occasions. That works great. Decent visor and it never tries to blow off.
Gordon Nichols posted:I have one similar to Ed that I bought on a trip to Ireland, but haven’t yet worn it in the Speedster. Every baseball cap I have tends to try to blow off at anything over 30mph, so I ended up with a bare-top “surfer hat” like what Jim wears on non-pineapple occasions. That works great. Decent visor and it never tries to blow off.
If you get a chance, post a pic for me. Thanks!
John Nickerson '57 Beck posted:On cool days here in Maine it's a Tilley newsboy in Harris Tweed, on warmer days it's a ball cap. But on Maui, how about a Malo and a Coconut Hat, one for this and the other for that? I know, Pupule brah.
You must have spent some time out here, brah. :-)
grade school, high school and later worked in the Pearl Harbor area. I drove my 2nd Speedster there, commuted from Kailua. Salt air is NOT kind to a Speedster....
Me with son #2
Any baseball type hat with the bill of the hat turned backwards.
Yeah. Ask Angela about her half-moon sunburn from her down-the-coast drive from Oregon to California. She's definitely not a fan of the backwards ball cap.
Phil, were U there in late 60's Primo Beer brewed right on the shores of Pearl, after about 6 of them they started to taste pretty good.:}
DannyP posted:Yeah. Ask Angela about her half-moon sunburn from her down-the-coast drive from Oregon to California. She's definitely not a fan of the backwards ball cap.
I know what you mean. I put SPF 50+ on my forehead before I drive. Carry it in the car. Worst burns I've had are the bald spot. At least I've got that covered. I do turn the cap around at lower speeds. Not much lower speed driving in the spyder.
Wearing a baseball cap in a Speedster, headband tension is critical. And getting the back of the cap far enough down on your head.
As Gordon notes, 30 mph is the make-or-break speed. If the cap stays on through the 30-40 mph transition phase, it will stay on at higher speeds, too.
Porsche knew this and placed warning hash marks on their speedometers for exactly that reason:
Thank you for the explanation. I have always wondered what those were for.
Early cabs showed a cap being blown off in the speedo, but, beginning with the 'A', the graphic was simplified to just show the streaks of wind:
OMG someone ought to get N Hollywood to make one like that. 
Add a chin strap yet another use for Duct Tape
Summer hat:
Winter hat:
Stan is your passenger mirror mounted on the door or the fender?
356GS posted:Stan is your passenger mirror mounted on the door or the fender?
It's on the door.
Most often I wear a baseball cap and the appropriate amount of sunscreen. I have NEVER had an issue with the cap ever coming off and I've done up to 100mph in my Speedster. At other times I have worn all manner of flat cap styles:
Baseball cap
Ascot
Newsboy
Flat Cap/Scally or in the US it's a Driving Cap
I've never had an issue with one of these flying off either. But then again I sit low in the seat do to my 5'9" height and a head large enough to fill up said caps. Wear a proper fitting cap or if it is adjustable tighten up a little and you should have no problems.
550 Phil posted:Me with son #2
Any baseball type hat with the bill of the hat turned backwards.
Nice pict Phil ! Handsome guys ..
Robert M posted:Most often I wear a baseball cap and the appropriate amount of sunscreen. I have NEVER had an issue with the cap ever coming off and I've done up to 100mph in my Speedster. At other times I have worn all manner of flat cap styles:
Baseball cap
Ascot
Newsboy
Flat Cap/Scally or in the US it's a Driving Cap
I've never had an issue with one of these flying off either. But then again I sit low in the seat do to my 5'9" height and a head large enough to fill up said caps. Wear a proper fitting cap or if it is adjustable tighten up a little and you should have no problems.
Well my issue is that I cannot find one big enough, seriously.
I doctored the rear tab with velcro to hold it very tight but as it is it does not go on low enough it sits up somewhat like a beany and can blow away. I guess I have to go back to my TEN gallon hat .
Robert M posted:356GS posted:Stan is your passenger mirror mounted on the door or the fender?
It's on the door.
It's a mirror image (see what I did there?) of the driver's side-- on the door... although the picture makes it look like it isn't.
Stan Galat posted:Robert M posted:356GS posted:Stan is your passenger mirror mounted on the door or the fender?
It's on the door.
It's a mirror image (see what I did there?) of the driver's side-- on the door... although the picture makes it look like it isn't.
I should have written, "It's own the door. Stan doesn't make mistakes with mirror placement, just engine choices.". I kid, I kid.
Baseball caps, truckers caps, fedoras, panamas...all good choices. Keeping them on my head is a challenge because I have a pinhead. Actually it's more of a forceps head. If I was bald all I would need is a brim because the top half of the Stetson is already in place.
I've had better luck keeping my hats on since I installed a windscreen several years ago. However, the slipstream from a big truck can reek havoc with the stay putness of said cap.
I am blessed with a full head of hair but I often wonder why those of you who are challenged follically don't wear a wig? Hell, you could be James Dean for a day! We drive fake cars, why not wear fake hair?
Tilley hats have a chin strap
TI am blessed with a full head of hair but I often wonder why those of you who are challenged follically don't wear a wig? Hell, you could be James Dean for a day! We drive fake cars, why not wear fake hair?
Nasty, Terry...just Nasty....
But he does have a point, said the bald guy. Do y’all think I would look good as a blonde? I certainly have the brains for it.
Robert M posted:Stan doesn't make mistakes with mirror placement, just engine choices.". I kid, I kid.
The mirror placement was Henry's call. The 4289 engines have been all me. Henry and Carey (and pretty much the rest of the western world) seems to have figured out the sweet-spot (a 130-150 hp 2110) for a speedster on modern roads.
I have not.
I don't want much from an engine-- just power like an LS, reliability like an LS, and light weight (like, you know, an LS). I'd like it to look right too, so there's that. I can't for the life of me figure out why it should be so hard to get big V8-like power and long life out of an air-cooled 4-cylinder engine designed for economy in the 1930s. I mean, it's not like it's 2x as big as it was ever meant to be, right?
