This week's poll- 2/21/11

Another oddball poll; I'm curious to see where you guys go with this one.

If you were going to attempt a cross-country drive in an air cooled car, which one would it be?

• Chevrolet Corvair
• Volkswagen Beetle
• Citroen 2CV
• Porsche 356
• Subaru 360 (nobody in their right mind would pick it, but if I left it out someone would call me on it. :P)

Considering none of the choices are likely to make it without requiring some sort of repair, I think the Beetle is the easy choice. On the other hand, once you make it the 356 would probably be the most fun (and certainly worth the most money!) so maybe the Porsche will be the consensus pick. I'm not up for good decisions, so there's even an outside chance I'd try it with the Subaru just to be different.

What do you all think?

I have driven a beetle often and like the way they cruise. They take a while to get up to 70 mph but can sustain it all day. It could also be the most modern of the choices since they built them into this century.

Cheers Ron

I know a VW Beetle will cruise cross country with no problems, 'cause I've done that in one!

Dave

Tough one for me because I grew up with VW bugs and Corvairs as well also owning two Porsche 356's myself.

Two be honest, I wouldn't worry about the reliability of either of these. Dad owned what may have been the first the VW bug convertible imported to Canada for seven trouble free years from 1956-63. I drove across the USA in a Corvair as a kid in 1964 and took also my 1960 356B on a multi day long drive without any issues in the mid 1980's..

Tough, tough call. I'd do it in any one of those cars with full confidence in their reliability.

2VC all the way.

I drove all over North Africa for two years in a sand-colored VW 1300 Beetle - it never missed a beat, so that would have to be choice one.

But...

Having just watched Bullitt again for about the 700th time, Jaqueline Bisset's yellow 356C cabrio looks awfully good.

Awww, let's just go with the 356.

I've driven a bunch of 1200 and 1300 Beetles back when they were common, and I've taken many 2000+ mile trips in a succession of '64, '68 and '79 Type 2s with very few problems, so a Beetle would surely work.

But there's no reason a 356, being closely related, wouldn't work just as well, and be faster, more comfortable and more fun in the process. That gets my vote.

Thanks for asking, Tom... I guess at least one person read my post RE the 1963 cars poll. Although certainly not considered a sports car by most, the lowly Beetle is IMHO a brilliant bit of kit. I could teach my German Shepperd to rebuild an air-cooled VW engine... But that said, she is smarter than the average Shivvy mechanic. Cheers, Scott

Got to go with the 360! It was first car I ever drove at a dirt track set up behnd their headquarters in Cherry Hill, NJ. It had a full roll cage on the outside of the car! Scott

I've rethunk this from my first post and concluded that the Corvair is the way I'd go because you didn't mention which Corvair. For comfort and practicality you could take either the station wagon or the van version. For performance and potential fun factor I'd probably have to rate a Yenko Stinger or Turbo Monza Spyder above a Porsche 356, unless its a four cam Carrera, but who'd trust one of those on a cross country trip.

Might take a couple of months, but 2cv just for the wackiness and highest odds of stories out of the deal.

I'll take a late Corvair with a turbo and a ragtop, please.

If we're cherry-picking models, I'll have my 356 as a Speedster, thanks .

I'm gonna go with a 356 here. They drive a little better than a Beetle, and you look cooler getting there!

Having driven a 360...um...no. Not in a million years would i drive one across the country. Compared to my Fiat 600 at the time, it didn't even drive that good, and I think an Isetta would have blown it's doors off. Of course that would be a drag race to watch!

Maybe we should add a Tatra to this list.

I'd be tempted by either a VW (always liked them) or a Corvair (larger car with a bit more speed), but haven't driven either one yet. I'd probably go with the Corvair as it looks like it would be easier to carry my son around in the back seat.

On the other hand, where's the option of making like a group of hippies and taking a Microbus? A cross country road trip on one of these is something I've thought about putting on my bucket list.

My wife and daughter did it solo... 10,000 miles. Corvair powered VW... http://www.fnader.com/TRIP.htm

I didn't know we could cherry pick. Do we get to keep the car if we make it cross-country? 356 speedster please.

In reply to MadScientistMatt:

"where's the option of making like a group of hippies and taking a Microbus?"

Did that in the summer of 1970 - across Canada as a Woodstock generation 18 yr old just graduated high school and breaking free. It was a trip man :-) Was an older VW bus even then, but had zero problems driving from Ottawa to Vancouver.

There is a guy down the street from me who has a restored 1969 VW bus - painted psychedelic of course.

I've done it - 1963 Corvair in 1968. Absolutely no problems at all, the car was one of the rare '63s with the 3.08 diff. Averaged 27 mpg, drove like a dream. No accelleration to speak of with those gears, but a real highway cruiser.

Dave_Jorgensen wrote: Having just watched Bullitt again for about the 700th time, Jaqueline Bisset's yellow 356C cabrio looks awfully good.

Actually, I had not noticed the car. Jaqueline Bisset... Yikes.

In reply to Series6:

I must be weird because I remember the car a lot better than the girl. I actually thought it was Ali McGraw until reading this thread.

The poll followed car values closely. Is that where we are? Cheers Ron

rconlon wrote: The poll followed car values closely. Is that where we are? Cheers Ron

No, the market agrees with us. I didn't vote based on value, just for the car I thought would do the job best. If enough other people agree, it's natural for that car to command the most money.

I love seeing the trends in these poll results. Usually the results seem similar to either the collector market values or on-track performance potential.

Next up is a request for favorite "other" muscle car. Nominations will include stuff like the Chevy II / Nova, AMC Javelin, Dodge Dart, etc...

If any of you have a great poll idea, click here to send me an email. I love requests!

A well prepared 356 will drive anywhere. No contest.