Happy autumn, everyone. The sun is shining, but the air’s gotten a bit chillier, and the leaves are in a full array of yellows, reds, and browns. You just need the right car to see it all in, which is why earlier this week I asked you for the best fall foliage sightseeing vehicles. Today, we’re parsing through your answers. Let’s take a look.
Something that lets you go where the roads aren’t so busy.
My personal choice is, unsurprisingly, a Land Cruiser.
HammerheadFistpunch might be overestimating the amount of off-roading actually available in New England, with how little public land exists in that part of the country. Still, can’t hurt to try, right?
Y’all keep asking, but the answer is obvious:
I just did this last weekend. Drop the roof, and find backroads with trees. It’s awesome. You get beautiful scenery, and an engaging drive. Win-win!
Convertibles are truly the way to go when leaf-peeping. Bonus points for picking a convertible that can actually get out of its own way on the roads. And the way of the locals behind you.
Heated grips FTW
Hey, I just talked about this! Admittedly Laststandard posted a photo of what looks like a KTM 690 Enduro, which is more of a dual sport, but I can imagine riding a thumper for those kinds of distances even less. Why not a sport tourer? Why not a Gold Wing?
Biased answer, but an e46 M3 convertible (with the true 6 speed manual, of course). Not much beats top-down driving when it comes to peering up into the tree canopy, and the M3 can do it at a leisurely pace until that gets boring, then turn it all into a blur of wonderful colors.
I’d never been much for convertibles, but when we sold the Alfa and I wanted another “fun” car my wife would only sign-off if it was a convertible. I gotta say...it is pretty great on the right day in the right weather. I’ve had way too many cars and none of them have quite so seamlessly integrated fun, comfort, reliability(ish), style, and made my kids giggle with glee so often.
I don’t know that I’ve ever heard the E46 referred to as “reliable,” but maybe that’s what happens when you’re coming from an Alfa.
Took my Mini Countryman JCW up on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park last Monday. If going on a weekend, a campervan with a bathroom as the line is 2 hours long to get into the park (craziness!). No wait last Monday haha.
If you set up some sort of catheter situation to avoid this without ditching your precious Miata, please. I beg of you. Do not tell me.
Took my 94 LandCruiser up to Maine this weekend and stopped in York to shop at the Stonewall Kitchen store. Thought I was in the best fall cruiser until I parked next to a 1965 Alfa Romeo Guila Spider 1600. Then went to the York Harbor Inn’s Ship’s Cellar Pub had late lunch/early dinner (Linner?) GF had French Onion Soup (Best she ever had) and I had a Lobster Roll. Drove up to LL Bean in Freeport. 5 states in about 6 hours.
Can someone explain the whole French onion soup thing to me? I love onions, yet that soup just seems like a textural nightmare. Maybe it’s the France of it all, it’s rare for me to come across a French food I like. Lobster rolls, though, I’d fuck up a lobster roll right now.
Best way to see leaves is not from the road- there, you’re only going to see a limited variety- you need to head into the woods to really see those colors. I’ll recommend the Canyon Neuron because that medium-travel suspension is fantastic at sucking up hits from rocks and roots buried under leaves. And if you’re in southern Wisconsin, hit the trails at Blue Mounds. It’s pretty much non-stop beautiful and the trails are fantastic and you’ve got leaves pretty much all of october and into november
God, I do miss mountain biking. I’m not in the aerobic shape I was back when I was doing that regularly, so using my old Trek Marlin 7 for a full leaf peeping tour might kill me, but it’s a nice idea. Are there leaves accessible via rock climbing? That I can do.
A tour bus. You shouldn’t be leafpeeping if you are driving. Book a tour instead. Get someone else to drive, and you can combine leafpeeping with wine tasting and whiskey sampling.
Somehow, I imagine adding wine and whiskey to a big, lumbering tour bus isn’t the best proposition. I know liquor before beer, but is there an equivalent for a nice merlot?
Hot Tub Limo. Cool fall air, nice hot water, someone else doing the driving.
I’ve long had the dream of turning a truck bed into a mobile hot tub, but I’m not sure how safe that is for moving. Especially when you consider that you’re specifically visiting somewhere full of distracted drivers.
Submitted by: emilminty drives an E30 and an Impreza for RallyX
This Mercedes 190SL with matching teardrop trailer. It’s a beautiful car built for cruising, and nobody will care about you driving slowly to enjoy the scenery because you look so damn classy. Then you can stop and camp anywhere.
Garland, this is such a specific answer. Not a type of car, not a specific make and model, but a specific VIN and its matching accessory. I applaud your commitment to finding a single best car.
Drove my Z3 out to Great Falls this weekend. Top down and seat warmers on.
Heated seats, like the heated grips on the KTM above, can make open-air vehicles tolerable at far lower temperatures. Who says you can’t have the wind in your hair all year?
Take your pick of British roadster - for a country with often middling, cool weather, they built a lot of cars meant to be driven through winding country roads with no roof, which sounds exactly on mission for an autumn drive.
As a bonus, the MGB could even be had with an interior colour called Autumn Leaf. I got to borrow a friend’s B for a drive a couple weeks back, my kid immediately deemed it the best car he’d ever been in (he’s 5, so he’s an expert on these things).
The only problem with British roadsters is that you actually want to get to the leaves — wrenching on an oil leak or Lucas electrics is fun until you’ve got a deadline. Sure, it’s a deadline measured in weeks, but this is an MG we’re talking about.
Michigan or New England falls are some of the best in the country. They also get cold, so a convertible/Wrangler is a risky play. I’ve also had very few good experiences in a convertible and just think I’m not a person who enjoys that kind of ride. So I’ll go with an Infiniti QX80 with a panoramic roof. A giant, slow, comfy, and smooth cruiser with big windows all around. There are a lot of things not to like about the QX80, but I’d be happy to get it as a rental and take the family on a northern fall cruise to the UP.
This is the first I’m ever hearing of leaf-peeping in Michigan, I had thought it was just a New England thing. The more you know, huh?
Has to be a Model T touring. Look, you’re not going to go fast anyway. Drive something alive, bring a few friends and it can handle any back road, dirt or mud. And when it starts to rain, just put the roof up.
It’s harder to get mad at a slow driver in a Model T, since they’re almost certainly doing their best to keep up with traffic, but it’s not impossible. You underestimate Massholes.
NONE! No car! Don’t do this. I’m sick of following you, going 15 mph under the limit and drifting back and forth over the double yellow as you point out varieties of dead leaves. They’re freakin’ leaves. They do this every year. Just look out the window of your house if you need to see a yellow leaf that badly.
Signed,
Old Man Who Yells at Clouds
Stop getting in the way! Appreciate the leaves all you like, but do it from a park — don’t go clogging up the streets with your meandering.