Friends, it’s beach season. I’m spending every day I can spare lounging on soft sand under hot sun, eating hot dogs and throwing various frisbees around in the waves of of the Atlantic ocean, and I encourage you to do the same. But while my access to the beach is covered by trains and buses, yours is likely going to require an automobile of your own. So, today we ask: What’s the best beach car?
When I picture a beach car, I imagine something that’ll let you pile friends in — ideally over the doors, through a lowered convertible top, rather than through them — and head up the Pacific Coast Highway towards whatever beaches are off PCH. This is a prime situation for a Wrangler, Bronco, or an old Blazer, but I posit that there’s a better beach car that flies under the radar: The cheapest E36 M3 convertible you can get your hands on.
The right tool for the job
Originally I was thinking of going with the Meyers Manx here, but two seats is simply too few to load your buds in and hit the sand, let alone trying to bring a cooler. The E36, by contrast, has two full rows of seating to load up with friends. You can fill the trunk with beach towels, White Claws, and your Shibumi, and have no risk of anything falling out of the separate, secured cargo compartment (try having loose beach towels in the back of a Wrangler and tell me how that goes).
I think the worst, rattiest E36 money can buy is the best beach car, but how about you? Do you think I’m wrong on Wrangler supremacy, or would you rather have a roof over your head to shade you after you inevitably get burned out on the sand? Leave your answer in the comments below, and I’ll pick out my favorites later in the week. Bonus points for shots of your own vehicle out on the sand.
