What's your favorite time to drive?

My absolute favorite time to drive the X is early evening thru dusk. Perhaps it's because I can tolerate the sun beating down on my head but prefer to have it at lower angles (with cooler temps) and I certainly don't want to drive with the targa-on unless I have to.

Early morning or evening is my next favorite. With respect to night driving, my gauges have white faces (thanks to Jeff's help). My dash gauges are all LED powered and my headlamps have relays (thanks to Bob B's help) so I have good visibility ahead and in the cockpit. I also installed trition illumination on my HVAC knobs (thanks to Dan's help) so they're also easy to find at night. It's really difficult to capture the "actual" experience with a camera, but the HDR mode of my Nexus comes fairly close in the photo below (which shows the radio off because I was also performing a radiator fan test and wanted to ensure I could hear 'em ):

dusk and dawn

The only time that I don't enjoy driving the Queen is when it is hot, because then I have to put the top on and fire up the AC. The Queen does not leave her stall when the weather is threatening or bad.

My Favorite Time...

Is also late afternoon to dusk, but keep from heading west, the glare can be brutal...

Of course we are talking minute degrees of favoritism here, for any time you can drive with the top down is my favorite time.

I never had an X with A/C, and honestly, never missed it.

ANYTIME along PCH in NorCal...

Google Morro Bay to Monterey where you have mountains and redwoods on your right (heading north) and sandy beaches and oceans usually WAY DOWN on your left.

With a trio of cars... an X1/9, Jaguar Roadster and an Alpha something... the HARMONY of those engines was the best song I have ever heard bouncing off the mountains as we viewed the beauty of everything around us.

Dusk is nice too... HA!~

Black-Tooth said:

Google Morro Bay to Monterey where you have mountains and redwoods on your right (heading north) and sandy beaches and oceans usually WAY DOWN on your left.

With a trio of cars... an X1/9, Jaguar Roadster and an Alpha something... the HARMONY of those engines was the best song I have ever heard bouncing off the mountains as we viewed the beauty of everything around us.

Dusk is nice too... HA!~

Click to expand...

I like that time and drive too. A little cool air along the way adds life to the Abarth once its nice and warmed up.

Black-Tooth said:

Google Morro Bay to Monterey where you have mountains and redwoods on your right (heading north) and sandy beaches and oceans usually WAY DOWN on your left.

With a trio of cars... an X1/9, Jaguar Roadster and an Alpha something... the HARMONY of those engines was the best song I have ever heard bouncing off the mountains as we viewed the beauty of everything around us.

Dusk is nice too... HA!~

Click to expand...

I have been up and down the California coast and through the stretch you speak of many times at different times of the year. A couple of times in a 1963 Renault Caravel, once in a 56 Chevy pickup, four or five times in a 75 Fiat 128 and over a dozen times in my old 70 Land Cruiser pulling a 16 foot camp trailer. It was beautiful every time.

Just about any time of day and day of the year,

probably a good 300+ days/year in California works for me. I haven't ventured as far north as Morro Bay in the X, but it sure is a beautiful area to drive around, even in the DD.

Mike

Black-Tooth said:

Google Morro Bay to Monterey where you have mountains and redwoods on your right (heading north) and sandy beaches and oceans usually WAY DOWN on your left.

With a trio of cars... an X1/9, Jaguar Roadster and an Alpha something... the HARMONY of those engines was the best song I have ever heard bouncing off the mountains as we viewed the beauty of everything around us.

Dusk is nice too... HA!~

Click to expand...

Sounds familiar....:grin:

Me too Tim... once the 5 of us in a '66 Beetle...

with a roof rack filled with a tent, sleeping bags, Coleman stove and lanterns... coming South from Oregon along its coast as well as through the Redwoods... and then down into the Bay Area... through the fog and looking DOWN on the GG Bridge... AMAZING!

(My son age 6 sat in the RF seat, my wife in the RR, my 5 year old son in the LR seat... and my 1 year old daughter in the "way-back"... Canned food and other supplies all went up front and looked like a small market as they could not fit it they were packaged. We were really YOUNG too...)

Greg Smith one posted a photo on how he packed three of his kids in an X1/9. One in the rear trunk, two up front I think... Hopefully he'll post it again! HA!

The "way back" was my spot in the family beetle

Black-Tooth said:

and my 1 year old daughter in the "way-back"...

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Until I was probably 10 or so. Fun times, and toasty warm. Which is useful in WI.

Pete