Amber DaSilva
Living in New York City, I see a lot of vehicles that are truly incorrect for the area in which they're driven. We have tight, old streets with low-clearance bridges and limited parking, yet people seem intent on driving hulking, lumbering vehicles around here all the same. That phenomenon got me thinking, though: Surely we've all done something similar, driven the worst possible vehicle for a circumstance and had to make do. Today, I want to talk about your most ill-suited automotive experiences.
This is a very broad category, and I'm intentionally keeping it that way. Did you take a ski trip in an open-differential Miata, with no room to put your skis and only one powered wheel to get you through the snow, or have you autocrossed a Wrangler? Have you taken a four-hour road trip in a torrential downpour, on a motorcycle, with waterproof gear that you quickly found the limits of? Well, I have too, and today we're all going to share our dumb ideas.
I'm not immune to New York City trucking
Amber DaSilva
My worst-picked vehicle was probably a press loaner Chevy Colorado Trail Boss I got some time back, specifically a Stars and Steel-edition truck. I jumped at the chance to get it on loan, because I love a deeply stupid vehicle, but only once I got my hands on it did I realize it wouldn't fit in my building's parking. Then, once I started circling my block looking for street spots, I realized that the giant black America-themed pickup stood out uncomfortably in my largely Hispanic neighborhood. I ended up blasting transsexual hyperpop with the windows down to try and look less like ICE.
My most ill-suited vehicle was a Colorado in Queens, but what was yours? Have you lapped Watkins Glen in a camper van (I've seen it done) or daily-driven a Scion FR-S through lake effect snow (I've done it myself)? Leave your answers down below, and I'll pick my favorites later on in the week. Bonus points as always for a good story.
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