These Are Your Favorite Summer Car Pastimes

Memorial Day has come and gone, and June is quickly approaching. Some of you already have your summer cars prepared and ready to go. We asked our readers last week for their favorite summer car pastimes. While I expected to see a lot of comments about scenic drives, everyone had their own spin on having fun out on the road. We received responses that included hanging out at Denny’s, taking trips to nude beaches and heading out on night drives. Without further ado, here is how all of you love to spend your summer months:

The best part of summer is that I get to put the top down and take the doors off of my Wrangler YJ. After that, even a short trip to the grocery store becomes fun. Living in Colorado, there’s no shortage of good off-road trails. Anything from rocky and technical to something one can do in a Outback, but always scenic and beautiful.

Submitted by: LarriveeC05

Favorite? Road tripping. Particularly to higher elevations to escape the heat.
Most Common? Watching the temperature gauge and putting R134A into an aging car and worrying that this is the summer the rattling compressor is going to crap the bed.

Submitted by: hoser68

When I lived in San Francisco, it was time for top-down driving, and since there is basically one season in SF, it was always top-down season.

Drive up or down PCH and hit the nude beaches for some rays.

If it’s Spring, drive to Tahoe, then down and through Yosemite when there’s still snow. Just don’t do it on the weekends unless you enjoy traffic.

Now in France, we do have seasons, but we also have a wonderful coastal highway, along the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. So, top-down motoring along the coast or through the Alps as well.

Submitted by: Mistress Leah

This is the time of year when I can drive my MINI cabrio with the top down, so there’s that. It’s also the beginning of 24-hour endurance racing season. Le Mans. Spa-Francorchamps. Fuji. Nurburgring.

Submitted by: Robzilla1793

Roadtrips; I try to do 1 or 2 each summer. I love watching the scenery slowly change, seeing towns and states I wouldn’t otherwise, stopping at obscure historical sites. I love packing the car full of people and bags and driving hours and hours.

Submitted by: Lexcrsr

Pre-GPS, pre-mobile phones…. used to love to get in the car and just drive while purposefully trying to get lost. Random left turns, random right turns, but eventually and inevitably, there’s an intersection or a major roadway that tells you where you are and how you need to get home. Harder to do these days, but still a nice way to discover places and areas you’d generally have no reason to pass thru.

Submitted by: Not Me

I still do that now. On what I figured would be the last beautiful-weather day last fall, I got in my car, drove as far west as I could without driving into Lake Michigan, then got on a highway going north/parallel to the coast. Drove until I found a random state park, hung out on the beach for a while, then got back in the car and took winding back roads until I found a winery where I could relax in the sunshine. Didn’t turn my GPS on at all until it was time to head home.

Submitted by: itsnotaboutthepasta

I drive up to Michigan to go to the dispensary every two or three months, and I like to take a different route there and back every time I go. Sometimes the needless meandering adds an extra two or three hours to the trip, but it’s something to do.

Submitted by: Travis S.

My favorite thing about summer wasn’t what you did while the sun is out, it’s what you did at night.

Back when I was in college, I would do late-night boba runs and canyon drives with my friends. Loved the late-night stargazing, racing through LA’s mountains, and kicking it at Denny’s well into the graveyard shift before anyone discovered Seaside Donuts in Newport was the place to be (after that whole subculture exploded in the last few years with clapped-out Miatas and anime peep stickers). Helped that the car that got me through that time was a 1993 MR2 Turbo, which is now long gone but dearly missed.

Maybe the nostalgia is why I enjoyed it so much and I’ll think about it every now and then, especially since everyone’s moved on or moved away, but when I think back on it, that really was the ideal life. Me, my car, the T-tops off and the windows down in lukewarm 80-degree air, Logic’s recently released Under Pressure album on blast, my girl in the passenger seat, and the chillest dudes ever just vibing until the sun rises again.

Submitted by: Drift of Air

I like going to anime conventions which surprisingly have a good amount of car-related content. They usually have a car show featuring itasha with elaborate anime wraps as well as a game room where you can play a variety of racing games. Plus, people like to cosplay Initial D with cardboard costumes of the Toyota AE86 and Mazda RX-7. Last year, the biggest convention in my area had a cars and racing theme which included a panel called “So You Wanna Drive Fast”.

Submitted by: Giantsgiants

I live in Massachusetts – heading “down the Cape” [Cod] is a rite of passage for all Massholes.

Heading out to the Outer Cape, you’ll hit the National Seashore. Designated by JFK to remain federal land, it’s exactly as it should be – completely untouched and preserved. Rolling dunes, crashing waves, and breathtaking scenery.

Unbeknownst to many, the National Seashore allows those with 4WD vehicles to obtain a pass to drive out on the beaches – bear in mind, there is a long list of items you need to have in the vehicle. The Rangers will inspect in order to get the pass, and throughout the season to ensure you have everything. Failure to have items will result in forfeiture of the pass.

But getting out there is a feeling unlike many others – once you air down, you make your way through the sandy dunes. Cresting a dune, all you can see from one end to the other is the Atlantic. Toss on some tunes, all windows down (including the back window), and no cell service, it’s a throwback to a bygone era.

Submitted by: sclass88

Our big, long vacation drive in the waning gays of summer post Labor Day. We’ll drive anywhere between 4k and 6k miles. This year it’s up to Wisconsin and back to Clearwater through the deep South. We’ve been doing it eleven years since we retired and moved with the exception of 2020, all in our beautiful carriage.

Submitted by: XL500