What Do I Need To Know About Car Culture On Hawaii’s Big Island?

So, a funny thing happened recently, and thankfully, this time it wasn’t a car crash. My human girlfriend got approached by a recruiter about a potential travel healthcare job, and before we knew it, she’d been offered a temporary position in Hawaii. Instead of dumping me, though, she invited me to join her, and when I ran the idea by Erin and Daniel, they said it would be fine. Fast forward to today, and I’m now on Big Island for the next couple months. Maybe longer if we like it here. 

I’ve already found one thing I don’t like, though: There’s no Jollibee here. Apparently, that luxury is reserved for the folks on some of the other islands, which is heartbreaking. But what am I going to do? Open my own Jollibee franchise in Hilo? Of course not. That would be crazy. I barely know anything about blogging, much less running a fast food restaurant.

Other than that and the fact that the house we’re staying in is only walking distance from two restaurants, though, I’m loving it so far. I mean, who wouldn’t love popping over to a gorgeous beach with their beautiful girlfriend to watch a sunset, only to run into the gorgeous W123 that you see in the photo above?

Back on the mainland, I’m a little more plugged into the enthusiast scene, and while I’ve lived in quite a few different cities across the country, I’ve always already known at least a few people in the area. This time, though, I’ve got nothing. I only know the people I’ve met so far, and while they’re all incredibly friendly, they aren’t exactly car people. I bet whoever drives this Nissan Z is a car person, though. 

It’s not entirely the point, but I’m pretty sure that was also the first new Z I’ve seen in person that wasn’t a press car. Nice.

So anyway, the big question is, what do I need to know about car culture on Hawaii’s Big Island? It looks like there’s a great off-roading scene, but what about sports cars and motorcycles? Is there an e-bike scene I have yet to see? I can’t imagine I’m going to get 200+ responses, and we definitely won’t be turning this question into an AOTD, but at the same time, what’s the point of having a giant reach if you don’t try to use it to your advantage every now and then? 

Assuming I get connected to the right people, I’m hoping to publish some cool stories about island car culture between now and Christmas, so definitely keep an eye out for those. And if you’re an automaker that happens to have something here that you want me to drive, you know where to find me — cwoodard at jalopnik dot com. Thanks in advance!