When the weather is good in and around Spokane, Wash., home of Silver Auctions, company owner Mitch Silver usually drives one of the 110 vintage and classic cars in his collection, preferably with the sun shining on him. "Driving to work or around town in a collector car with the top down, that puts the biggest smile on your face," says Silver, whose company has been in business since 1979 and now sells about 5,000 cars annually. "The beauty of a collector car is in the driving of it."

We asked Silver and David Brynan, a specialist with Gooding & Co. auction house in Santa Monica, Calif., to list their all-time favorite convertibles. Silver picked the ones he has most enjoyed driving, while Brynan selected cars more for their historical significance, thus his choices of the VW Beetle and the Rolls-Royce Corniche—a white one—as representations of the zeitgeists of the 1960s and 1980s, respectively. The Bug and the Rolls didn’t make it to this collective top-10 list, but here are the convertibles that did, listed in no particular order. (In parentheses, we identify who selected each car.)

Triumph TR3 (Silver)
Silver refers to the TR3, which Triumph produced from 1955 through 1957, as a "knuckle-dragger," and he uses that term affectionately. "It’s exactly what a sports car ought to be," says Silver. "When you sit in this car, you really sit in it; you sink down, and if you reach out, you can touch the ground." The TR3, of which Triumph made about 13,400 examples, looked similar to its predecessor, the TR2, except that it had a grille, though not as wide as the one on the TR3A, which followed in 1958. With 100 hp, the TR3 also was more powerful than the 90 hp TR2, and it was the first British production car equipped with disc brakes.

1953–54 Chevrolet Bel Air (Silver)
Silver describes the Bel Air as the fat-fendered, rounded-off car. "I once drove a ’53 Bel Air convertible 800 miles solo through the night from Montana to Bellingham, Wash., on the coast, listening to the same George Thorogood tape most of the way," Silver recalls. "It was one of those classic drives." GM made about 43,500 Bel Airs (hardtops and convertibles) from 1953 through 1954. That version was shorter, wider, and taller than its immediate predecessor and, with a V-6, not as powerful as the V-8 Bel Air that was introduced in 1955. Nevertheless, says Silver, "This is a car you could drive at 70 mph all day long."

1959 Cadillac (Brynan)
Depending on your taste, you might consider the 1959 Cadillacs—the Series 62 (also known as the 6200) and the Eldorado models—either the most outlandish or the most magnificent of America’s tail-finned cars. "It’s the classic 1950s American convertible," says Brynan. "It’s a big land yacht." It was a big, brawny, and expensive land yacht, with a price as high as $7,400 and a 390 cu in V-8 that generated 345 hp. But the car is notable for its styling, not its performance. It displayed lots of chrome and had a lavish interior. And it had those outrageous fins, which were more pronounced than those of any Cadillac produced before or after that year.

Ferrari California Spyder (Brynan)
As Brynan notes, the California Spyder is the car that Ferris Bueller and his friends drove around Chicago on their day off. Perhaps if they had been aware that Ferrari made only 104 examples during its production run, from 1958 through 1963, they would have treated it with more reverence. Designed and built by Pinin Farina and powered by a Colombo V-12 engine, the California was part of the 250GT series (1954 though 1964), which is considered Ferrari’s first production model, though Ferrari built only about 2,500 250GTs, including the Californias, during the 10-year run.

Jaguar XK120 Roadster (Brynan)
"Anytime I think of a sports car, this is the car I think of," says Brynan. "It’s the classic British convertible." Jaguar’s managing director, William Lyons, designed the car’s innovative shape, which features a long hood that tapers to a narrow, oval grille flanked by large headlights and curvaceous, well-proportioned bumpers. The 120 in the car’s name refers to the top speed that the prototype achieved. Jaguar originally built the 120, in 1948, as a test bed and publicity car for the twin-cam 6-cylinder engine that would power the Mark VII, introduced in 1950. The company expected to make only about 200 XK120s, but the car proved so popular that production continued until 1954, by which time Jaguar had cranked out 12,000 examples, including 1,769 convertibles.

Peugeot Eclipse (Brynan)
In 1934, Parisian dentist and designer Georges Paulin patented a retractable hardtop roof, which he installed on a few Peugeot 202s. A year later, Peugeot bought the patent and built larger, 402 models with the roof. "They were the first production cars with retractable hardtops," says Brynan. Peugeot produced 481 examples of the Eclipse in the years prior to World War II. The next production car with a hardtop convertible didn’t appear until 1957, when Ford introduced the Skyliner.

Willys Jeepster (Silver)
Willys introduced the Jeepster in 1948 as a passenger car with which the company could capitalize on the popularity that the military Jeep had achieved during World War II. But the car turned out to be uncomfortable and clumsy to drive. Willys ceased production in 1951. Though it proved unsuccessful initially, the Jeepster concept was revived in the mid-1960s for Jeep’s Commando line of recreational vehicles. That was a more appropriate use of the concept. "It’s like a toy car," says Silver. "You’re playing when you drive it. You enjoy it with all your senses."

Ford V-8 (Brynan)
Built from 1932 through 1938, this car derived its name from its then-innovative engine, a cast-iron, flathead, 8-cylinder power plant that produced a top speed of at least 78 mph, an impressive mark at the time. "It was the first affordable high-performance car in the United States," says Brynan. The V-8 was offered in 14 different body styles, including convertibles, priced from $460 to $650. Dirt-track racers eventually found that the engine was well suited for tuning, and that they could easily reduce the car’s weight by removing the fenders, running boards, and roof. Thus the Deuce, a nickname that referenced the year of its introduction, became the driving force behind the hot rod craze that peaked after World War II. Bruce Springsteen originally and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band more lucratively sang about being revved up like a hot rod version of the V-8 in "Blinded by the Light," and of course, a souped-up V-8 coupe is the title of a Beach Boys song.

Jaguar XKE Series 1 (Silver)
Produced from 1961 through 1968, the XKE Series 1 could reach speeds of more than 140 mph and handled exceptionally well, thanks to independent suspension on each wheel. "You don’t have to drive this car fast, because everyone knows how fast it can go," says Silver, noting that he’s currently looking for an XKE to purchase. "This car looks like it’s doing 100 when it’s parked." The XKE was comparable in terms of performance to the Aston Martin DB4, at about half the price. Briggs Cunningham and Roy Salvadori drove a modified, lightweight version of the XKE to a fourth-place finish at Le Mans in 1962.

1964–65 Pontiac Tempest GTO (Silver)
For about $300 more than the $3,000 base price, you could upgrade your Tempest to include a 389 cu in V-8, a 3-speed manual floor shifter, a stiffer suspension, a more responsive steering, dual exhausts, and premium tires, and thus own what is now considered the original muscle car. "It was the first time someone put a big engine in a midsize car," says Silver. With the big engine, the GTO could accelerate from zero to 62 mph in 7.7 seconds, and it could reach a top speed of 115 mph. "I like the ’66 and ’67 GTOs, too," says Silver, "but the ’64 and ’65 have the clean, righteous lines you want."