See America...but in what car?

I was thinking an S7. The trunk space is great. V8 twin turbo, all wheel drive.. would be one heck of a country tour mobile.

 

You have good taste - an Audi S7 would also be a very good choice.

 

Reminder, from the OP:

We finally find ourselves with the time and money to do it in style

Therefore you must take *any* Ferrari. Doesn't matter which one, as long as it's a Ferrari. Forza !

 

Ahhhh......but the OP mentioned several brands, not just Ferrari. That made me think that even though he's posting on FerrariChat, he's open-minded about which car would be the best choice. After all, he liked the Bentley, eh? And some others, too - even American muscle cars seemed to make his initial cut list.

 

Corvette C8 convertible.

 

Completely agree: Sporty, fast, enough luggage space for 2, fun to drive, dual personality, comfortable, great creature comfort, lots of safety stuff, goes topless in 13 seconds, and reliable. Not to mention -- rather cool.

Those who poo poo it as a just another GM product from Kentucky: You don't know what you are missing.

 

And you get to put the top down to enjoy the beautiful (or even not) weather. It was 45 degrees today and I was top down. I missed having a convertible. And a proper sports car at that. Not chasing speed records or quarter miles. Just the enjoyment of a great drive.

 

Haven't seen a drop top, but saw the new Corvette for the first time out in the wild - white with exterior CF - while I was driving the California today. Looked great! If you add in creature comforts & sufficient room, that'd make for an awesome road trip vehicle...T

 

Being a vintage car guy, I find pretty much every car/truck/SUV made within past 3-4 decades as interesting as a ceiling fan or dishwasher. Useful appliances, but that's about it.

Here's some of my preferences for extended distance road trips/travel.

While I haven't actually travelled with the pictured examples of the '50s rides, I've done numerous across the U.S. (and around Europe) long distance trips with many identical or similar vehicles, totaling far more than 100K combined miles, although not all were convertibles nor necessarily featured same convenience/comfort options.

For example, the pictured '59 Imperial has everything ("but the kitchen sink") from A/C & Heater, Automatic Headlight & Rear View (inside) Mirror Dimmers, Clock, Cruise Control, Power Brakes, Power Steering, Power Seat (6-way) w/Swivel, Dual (rear) Power Antennas, Dual (outside) Mirrors (LH with inside/remote adjustment), "SearchTune" (= remote foot control) Radio AND 16 2/3 RPM Record Player, etc. and all of course working as good or better than the manufacturer originally intended.

The '57 DeSoto, on the other is a bit more Hi-Performance oriented with less convenience/comfort options (only Power Brakes, Power Steering, Power Seat (6-way), Power Windows, Clock, Heater, "SearchTune" Radio, Dual (rear) Antennas, but has more "pep" thanks to it's 345" Hemi w/2 x WCFBs. (Apologies for its "missing" at the of photographing hubcaps)

Both (and other similar cars) are delightfully comfortable, whether in-town or cruising at highway speeds up to and above 100 MPH and spacious, but finding a well sorted (like the above) and reliable example can prove quite difficult, since only 555 '59 Crown Imperials and 300 '57 DeSoto Adventurers were produced with convertible body.

And traveling with something like these always presents a problem when or wherever you stop, as you'll inevitably become a center of attention, which will lead to countless conversations with strangers often asking some of the most unusual (or intriguing, especially little kids or their grandmothers, etc.) questions, all which can rob you of unexpected amounts of time if not paid attention to.

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Such clean examples
I don’t see any seat belts
Not really a best practice approach doing a highway based trip

 

IMO, pick a Ferrari, this coming from someone who has put thousands of miles on several different models over the past 9 years, leading Ferrari drives all over the United States ( and Hawaii! ) over 12,000 of those miles were in an FF/Lusso variant.

FF would be your best value and has taken a majority of its financial hit, so the miles you are going to put on it wont matter so much.

Lusso V12 , as it is everything the FF was, just better, and more suited to long distance travel while still being exciting in the curves.

Lusso V8, if you want a little better gas mileage, though I found that I push them harder, whereas the V12 is just off idle ... LOL

1. Have the fluids and filters changes
2. Current tires above 80% or better yet, just install a set of brand new tires
3. Purchase New Power Warranty which covers roadside assistance to the nearest Ferrari Dealership at no cost to you, regardless of the distance, and has other benefits that you hopefully wont need.
4. Tint the windows for UV protection
5. Pick up a couple GoPro units to capture the time on the road!


Enjoy!

Steve


p.s. A Portofino would be a good open top variation as well...

 

I love Imperials! If I were going to own a 1950s-1960s American car, it would either be an Imperial or a 63-67 Corvette.

 

Thank you, both were recipients of multi-year, several hundred grand, “complete”(!!!) restorations to significantly higher standards than their original manufacturing afforded ...

.... and both received seat belts prior to extended road testing and final deliveries. Belts might’ve actually been installed at the time of photos were taken, but their mounting was intentionally designed to be visually obscure and un-intrusive and they might’ve been purposely “hidden” for the occasion.

And while they don’t feature air bags and other similar safety features common on modern passenger cars, I personally feel safer in these types rather than their modern equivalents...

... , but then again I’m not afraid to travel extensively, i.e. 3000-5000 miles per year for past 10+ years (including 800+ mile trip up to Big Sur and back (to Riverside) wife & I did just couple weeks ago) in this.
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And while it also has seat belts (from a vintage military aircraft), I’m fairly sure their effectiveness in a collision would be rather insignificant.

 

And this is "her" after 10 days and +/-2K miles on the road during our (15 day/almost 3K mile) honeymoon road trip to Yellowstone and back few years ago.

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Had planned to drive her from SoCal to New York and back couple of years ago for the FCA Annual Event in Corning/Watkins Glen, but encountered some unexpected health problem ...

 

Phantom 2 with a hired driver.


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

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Boooooring.

65 Imperial LeBaron, much better choice:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1965-chrysler-imperial-lebaron/

 

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