There’s something magical about the great American road trip. Just point your hood in a direction, mash the pedal, and watch the world go by. Next week, I get to do just that, as I leave the frigid Midwest for warm and sunny Los Angeles to hop into the Autopian’s weird Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet. Then I’ll drive east, bound for Austin, Texas, to take part in a Texas-edition 24 Hours of Lemons road rally. My trip will drop me off right back at home near Chicago, roughly 3,400 miles after I left. Along the way, I want to meet you!
Back in the spring of this year, David Tracy, Jason Torchinsky, and Matt Hardigree came up with one of their typically mad ideas. They decided to buy a cheap version of Nissan’s abysmal failure of a convertible crossover, the Murano CrossCabriolet, and partnered up with our friends at XPEL to apply paint protection film to exactly half of it. Since then, the 10-year-old, over 100,000-mile Autopian CrossCab has been through a lot of crap. Jason attempted to “cop slide” across its hood. I’m sure more than one person keyed it, and oh yeah, we also jacked it up and mounted Ford Mustang Tri-Bar wheels on it. We even tossed some shopping carts at the poor thing just for good measure.
I will be the one taking the CrossCab on its greatest journey yet. After departing LA with our excellent photographer, Griffin, we’ll take the CrossCab off-roading near Flagstaff, Arizona then beat it down to Texas to take part in the Lemons Lone Star/No-Start Rally. Then I’ll drop Griffin off in Houston and take the CrossCab home to my lair, where it’ll get to experience a Midwest winter.
The drive will take an entire week and see us traverse nearly 3,400 miles. Jason and I are calling it the “CrossCab CrossCountry CabCross CountryCab,” and I want to meet you along the way!
Anything Is Possible
Truth be told, I have no idea what to expect here. Since I don’t live anywhere near our California boys, I have never seen the CrossCab in person. I have no idea what it currently looks like, no idea how it drives, and no idea what’s even wrong with it. The only thing that I’ve been told is that the terribly complex roof mechanism has been getting jammed. Apparently, most lately, the car’s been making a crying beeping sound whenever the roof tries to close. Jason warns me that the roof has “a finite number of closes left in it.”
This is bad, because the part that I’m most excited about is driving the CrossCab with the roof down. I will absolutely let the intrusive thoughts win and drop the top. But will it come back up? I have no idea. What’s worse is that, while there is a manual closure procedure, you cannot fully close the roof manually. Apparently, Nissan just didn’t think that far.
My experience with Nissans is also a bit silly. You might remember when I buried a poor rental Rogue in some muck in the dark of night in Florida. There was another time when my wife bought a 2004 Nissan Maxima for only $300, and the darn car tried to kill me with its lack of lug nuts, catastrophic wheel bearings, and a transmission that engaged like a sledgehammer.
On the other hand, I’ve become a Nissan apologist. When I’m not getting rentals stuck, I appreciate that Nissans are cheap, well-featured transportation.
Where will the CrossCab fall? Will I love it? Will I hate it? I have no idea, but I cannot wait to find out! Seriously, I’m so excited that I’ve been losing sleep over it.
The Route
The screenshot above is what my route will look like, roughly.
On Monday, December 1, I will fly on a cushy Frontier Airlines flight to Los Angeles, where I will meet up with Griffin and see the CrossCabriolet for the first time in my life. Then, we will hit the road for Flagstaff, Arizona.
On Tuesday, Griffin and I will be driving around Flagstaff, gathering content with the CrossCab. We’ll be taking some off-road trails and will be up to other antics. I think we should have some time here to meet up with some readers. Maybe you can go wheeling with us! Here’s what some of the off-roading looked like the last time I was in Flagstaff:
On Wednesday, we’ll depart Flagstaff and drive roughly 10 hours or so to Lubbock, Texas, where we’ll stop for the night.
On Thursday, we’ll head to San Marcos, Texas. This day’s drive is shorter, and I think it’ll be a great time to meet with Autopian readers before the start of the Lemons Rally. There is a Walmart in San Marcos at 1015 TX-80, San Marcos, TX, 78666. I think a 6 p.m. meetup should be more than doable. Since we’re more than a week out, I’ll have further details when the time gets closer. However, if you’re in Texas and you want to meet us, I think Thursday will be a good bet.
The Rally
From Friday to Sunday, Griffin and I will be running in the Lemons Lone Star/No-Start Rally. If you don’t know what a Lemons Rally is, I’ll explain. This isn’t one of the famous 24 Hours of Lemons races, but a road trip rally with wacky cars. There are start points, checkpoints, challenges, and an entire scoring system. It’s all for fun and, provided you can afford the $500 entry fee, pretty accessible. You can bring any road-legal vehicle, even a rental, an Uber, or a taxi if you’re crazy enough.
Here’s what the scoring sheet looks like:
I’m not sure if there will be any opportunities to meet Autopian readers during the rally, but here’s what the schedule looks like:
DAY 1
Friday, 5 December: Austin TX to Laredo TX
MANDATORY Pre-Rally Registration: 7 am @ Harris Hill Raceway, 2840 Harris Hill Road, San Marcos TX
Optional Meetup: TBA
Optional Lodging: Laredo Hotel, 4820 San Bernardo Ave., Laredo ILDAY 2
Saturday, 6 December: Laredo TX to Corpus Christi TX
Optional Meetup: TBA
Optional Lodging: Wyndham Corpus Christi North – South Padre Island, 15202 Windward Dr, Corpus Christi TXDAY 3
Sunday, 7 Dec: Corpus Christi TX to Austin TX
Rally Finish: 6 pm @ Harris Hill Raceway, 2840 Harris Hill Road, San Marcos TX
After the rally finishes on Sunday, I’ll drop Griffin off in Houston, Texas, and then solo drive the CrossCab back to Illinois.
Let’s Meet Up And Have Fun!
Of course, this is a great opportunity to see parts of America I’ve never been to before. If you have any recommendations for museums, restaurants, historical places, or anything like that along our route, I want to hear them – send me an email at mercedes@theautopian.com. You can also drop me a line at that address if you’d like to meet Griffin and I along the way.
All of this is so exciting for me. I’ve always wanted to participate in a Lemons event, and I’ve long wanted to drive a CrossCabriolet. Now, I’ll get to do both at the same time! It’s also been a very long time since I’ve gotten to drive a road trip this long, and I’m stoked about that, too. Hopefully, the roof lasts, and I don’t end up having to drive in winter with a top that’s stuck down.
Top graphic images: Google Maps; David Tracy; Mercedes Streeter; Griffin Riley
Oh, you’re going through St. Louis after the Lemons Rally, you should check out the National Museum of Transportation! They have a 4-8-8-4 UP “Big Boy” locomotive, a 2-8-8-2 Norfolk & Western “Mallet” locomotive, the first production F/A-18 Super Hornet, a Chrysler turbine car, an original Stanley Steamer steam car, and a bunch of street cars, interurbans, and other random stuff. Great museum, and open year round!
https://tnmot.org/hours-and-admission/
Holiday Ro oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oad! Sounds like an awesome trip.
Mercedes and Griffin,
If you’re looking for a bit of old Austin, and a break from all of the awesome barbecue, give Casa de Luz a try (have a quick look at the linked website, which includes info about all the good they do). It’s near Zilker Park, and the Lady Bird Johnson Hike and Bike Trail, a wide, crushed granite trail wrapping around the lake (portion of the Colorado River that’s been dammed) in downtown Austin. If it’s been a hot day, and you’d like to cool down, have a dip in the adjacent Barton Springs, which remains 68-70 year round.
While I often traveled there while growing up, I lived in Austin for a few years in the 1990s. When I return once or twice a year since, regardless of season, I savor the vegan meal at Casa de Luz, (preferably outside under the trees or vine covered trellis seating). Friendly eclectic people, with a wonderful low-key vibe. The fantastic vegan meal changes, though there’s only one option each day. Great desserts, too! All homemade on-site from fresh ingredients. Highly recommend, once you’ve experienced the satisfying bark on great local BBQ.
After your meal, it’s a two minute stroll to the trail for a leisurely paced walk around the lake. Or, sit and rest, on the benches or on a couple of shaded seating areas which give amazing views of the tall downtown buildings that have risen (once the law prohibiting anything built taller than the state capitol was struck down). The trail also provides fun people watching, who are walking or running or biking the trails, or those on kayaks or stand-up paddle boards on the water.
Having a break from the horrendous Austin traffic or fast-paced life now engulfing the once funky, laid-back city will give you another view of Austin, away from all the cars and bro trucks. Hope Casa de Luz and the hike and bike trail fit into your schedule. For me, they are antidotes to the things for which Austin seems now ‘best’ known.
Safe Travels during your long journey!
Floormats to keep the rain out will not help you here Mercedes. I would just sawzall the power units out and just use an electric winch mounted on the front bumper to hoist the top up. Some kind of kayak roller mounted to the top of the windshield might help keep the winch cable from sawing through it.
San Marcos is just down the road from me! That’s “just down the road” in Texas terms, which means 2 and a half hours away.
I HAVE seen it in person. It’s…okay ish
Gumball 500 to finish it off?
Don’t put the keys on the dash :P. Good luck!
Sycamore falls south of Williams Arizona, some very light dirt roads that the CrossCabriolet can handle easily.
Unrelated note: I would like to point out my phone had “Jatco Xtronic CVT” as an auto fill option after CrossCabriolet above, spooky coincidence?