It’s Friday! Soon, many of you will punch the clock and get to enjoy just over 48 hours of time to decompress and maybe have a little fun. Let’s hit the road for the weekend. What car are you taking?
Weekend drives are some of the best. There’s nothing quite like pointing the handlebars of a motorcycle or the steering wheel of a car in a direction and just driving. Maybe you’ll go on a date, or maybe you’ll discover a new museum. It’s your vehicle, you’re in command!
If it’s a warm weekend in Chicagoland, it’s going to be the perfect time to go car spotting. You’ll find countless enthusiasts zipping around in Subaru BRZs and Volkswagen GTIs, as well as endless Ford Mustangs, a surprising number of Lamborghinis, armadas of Corvettes, and maybe even a Ferrari or two. Of course, the primary sign that warm weather is around is the call of the Harley-Davidson.
My usual weekend vehicle is actually not that amazing. I often take my 2005 Genuine Stella out for a weekend ride. I’ve now managed to put about 2,000 miles on the scooter since reviving it, and I plan on riding it through the fall and winter. If I’m going about my day on four wheels, then I’ll usually take my 2008 Smart Fortwo. If it’s a special occasion, like a car show or even a milestone date, then I’ll pull out one of the garage queen Smarts or one of my Kei cars. Back before I learned I didn’t quite have the correct license class, sometimes I even drove the bus around like it was a 30,000-pound Corvette.
But I suppose none of the above really answers my question. What is the perfect weekend car? I think the perfect weekend car is a convertible. I don’t care what kind of convertible. It can be a Wrangler, a Miata, a Chrysler Sebring, or one of those rare convertible pickup trucks.
There’s nothing quite like putting the top down and hitting the road. This is especially true here in the Midwest, when warm days are few and there isn’t an abundance of driving roads. So, you drop the top and cruise between the cornfields while you still have warm weather left.
Then, you have people like David Tracy, who live in a place that gets rain so infrequently that owning a vehicle with limited weather protection is easy. I’m jealous of you folks!
How about you? The weekend is here. What car are you going to drive?
CTS-V with the windows down and sunroof open to hear the symphony and a pair of laughing kids in the back seat giggling at the violence of that motor.
I currently have a one vehicle household but traded in 2 cars for 1 earlier this year with the intention of picking up a weekend car which will be a R129 SL500 when I have a chance to legitimately start looking.
In the meantime this summer the weekend car has been the Allroad with various combinations of bikes, a canoe, tent, dogs, soil and mulch, and construction materials.
I will probably take my Beetle for a ride since the Miata is out of commission, waiting for the supercharger pulley.
Def. Been shopping a 4 seater convertible *with personality* under $8k that I would feel safe putting my kids in the back. What should I get?
Since this is the annual Mexican Independence Day shithow in Chicago, I ain’t driving nothing nowhere. But when I do, it’s my 911 if the answer is a car, and any one of my bikes if it’s not. Bicycles are magic happiness machines.
For me, it’s my 92 wrangler, preferably with my mountain bike on the back.
Pulled my Miata out of the garage to drive to work today, I generally try to use it Friday-Sunday, weather permitting.
I m just waiting until I can buy my convertible.
Small, British convertible, like an MGB.
As a “proper” enthusiast, I enjoy working on cars rather than driving them.
The Stella is a mighty fine choice for bopping around. I can’t explain how bimbling about on my old Allstate was different, but parking it, doing a thing and then taking off again just felt trivial compared to a motorcycle.
My weekend car is usually a pickup, because weekends are for moving crap around apparently.
When you own a truck, weekend work finds you.
In my dreams, it’s a Morgan Super 3. In reality, anything topless that’s reliable and thrifty. I’m willing to compromise on thrifty.
I loved driving my Wrangler in the early fall, when it’s still warm enough to put the top down. I could find some places do some light offroading before hunting season came in.
These days, I would love to have a Miata to drive around.
It’s gonna be my Triumph, feeling the smooth rumble of that parallel twin while I’m pushing her through the canyon twisties to the next coffee shop is pure bliss.
Always the answer is always the answer, but if you wanted something that was more a toy than “the affordable toy car” I’d go Elise, Caterham, Ariel Atom, or something else small, light, simple, and reliable enough to be ok with a weekly thrashing
Perfect weekend car is one that has a full tank of gas, and a case of beer in the trunk.
Although, I do have to return to my home planet every 37.3 Earth days, and most terrestrial automobiles simply do not have the capability for interstellar travel, so on those weekends (my planet has a different orbit around it’s own star) I have to take the Blognorp Farsneed (sorry… that’s a phonetic spelling of the craft).
When the weather’s nice – as it is right now in much of the US – it’s not the vehicle so much as it is that you drive it as opened to the outside world as possible.
For me, the best driving is driving for its own sake, and the more immediacy of the total experience, the more satisfying I find it.
I guess it depends on activity, as running errands or shuttling kids to activities lends itself to taking the hybrid. But an ideal weekend is me in the mountains testing the durability of drive train components on rocks, and for that it would really only be my Jeep. Sadly, the Jeep is currently down waiting for me to fix some of the components that weren’t up to the task.
I’m a bit biased, but growing up I would drive my dad’s Z3 (see my picture) then at work, I work on the Mustang two different times and occasionally got to check out mustang convertibles overnight. So a good convertible (even a Bronco or Jeep) is my ideal weekend car. Something that you can take the top down and let the wind blow through your hair.
Miata is always the answer
Currently 3 choices: The GR Corolla, a ’90 Celica GT-S that was raced in the old Toyota Pro/Celebrity Grand Prix in CA, or the generic Crosstrek.
As of right now, I need to pick up the stock exhaust from the shop that installed a new one on the GRC, then take my dog for his nail trim. So the Crosstrek for sure. Maybe a quick drive in the Celica on Sunday.
I love that I can toss the canoe on the roof, fill the back with camping gear and head into the woods with my Jeep Wrangler.
I was initially thinking Bronco as I opened the article up. So same idea. You get the open top (even open doors) and ability to go camping/adventure for the weekend. Very different take to a sports weekend car, but I like it.
I love my Miata but I do miss having a 4×4
Well, it used to be cruising in my Land Yacht. But the last road trip told me that I’m emotionally over it.
So I’m currently in talks to trade it for a 944.
My answer is some kind of 80s/90s stick shift RWD car that corners well (DON’T SAY IT).
Might
I
Attempt
To
Answer?
*Flips table*
Caterham in some form or something similar. Since I am self-employed I do all my errands during the week. The weekend car only needs to be a toy. Since my daily is a Miata, I would need something that toys even better.
Lotus Elise, Caterham 7, or Ariel Atom then?
All lovely options!
Whatever brings you joy when you drive it with no destination in mind.
Gotta Marie Kondo that weekend car.
A VW Golf w well-weighted 6MT.
Because weekends are often filled with trips to grocery, kids’ sports, home improvement places, or just out to enjoy backcountry roads. And a good 5-door mild/hot hatchback can do it all and you can still drive it to work on a Monday.