rykoala

You make an excellent point. In that case a mid 90's FZJ-80 wagon would fit the bill. More powerful 4.5L motor (still a straight 6) auto trans and the availability of front and rear electric differential lockers. A bit more spendy tho!

No, I was NOT a Land Cruiser nut at ANY time of my life. I don't even LIKE Toyotas hehe. <-- compulsive liar!

cliff

Yes! I want one of these!

cliff

How many bikes, dogs and friends do you need to carry? I drive a Nissan Patrol GR which takes 6 passengers and 3 bikes with the 3rd row of seats folded up, or up to 9 passengers (3 medium sized kids and 6 adults) and 1 bike. If I put bikes on a roof rack then it would be easy to take 8 plus the ones inside. The bikes just need the wheels off and inverting to stand inside as they are then fixing with straps. The bad news is that these Patrols are not imported to the US for reasons only known to Nissan. They are all over the rest of the world and giving Landcruisers a hard time. I'd like to upgrade my engine sometime from the 4.2 to the 400 hp turbocharged 4.8 - if the money becomes available then I will!

Happy cycling and I hope you find the right vehicle.

DieselDan

Where is the road size issue in the US? Stage 3 of the Tour de Georgia ended on a 7 lane wide road. Wide enough for Lance Armstrong to win a sprint finish.

seely

Yeah but they are loaded with bike gear and nothing else, some of us need to haul bikes + gear + people + camping equipment!

catatonic

I still stand my my 87 grand marquis wagon reccomendation. Good solid car, ugly, but does what it needs to, and prolly then some.

khuon

Exactly. While I do think a station wagon is a good vehicle for cyclists, I also don't think it's the only one nor will it fullfill every cyclist's needs. Also, take note that while you see those station wagons roaming around on the race course itself during the TdF, you know that sitting back at the hotel, starting line and finishing point is a huge RV/bus.

Raiyn

Go back and read what I quoted off of Hunter's post sparky

pletcgm

I still say the Mereded Benz c230 or c320 coup is a cool looking car for a cyclist

DanFromDetroit

I mention this only because no one else has:

If you are not carting around all this stuff every single day, why not just get a small sedan of any type and purchase a trailer hitch with a very small (4x8 possibly) trailer. This way when you don't need to haul something you can park the trailer and drive the car.

Dan

khuon

The trailer idea can be a good one but I would first caution the driver to learn how to drive with a trailer properly and keep up with that skill. Trailers can be dangerous things to the average driver who hasn't had the training. I remember seeing these odd squiggly strips of rubber all over the road near my house once so one day I decided to follow it. It led for a couple of miles to the driveway of some house and ran right up to a semi-deflated tyre of a trailer. My guess is that the driver wasn't really accustomed to driving with (or hooking up the proper straps to) a trailer and it was swinging around back and forth across the road as they were towing it coupled with the underinflated tyre (and possibly overloaded bed) which caused patches of rubber to be left behind. This would have created a very dangerous road condition for all around. I can't even begin to count the number of times drivers towing a trailer forget they're doing so and nearly swipe me off the road while I'm on my bike (also happens when I'm driving too). I've also been nearly decapitated because people load up trailers with stuff hanging off the side and nearly take me out because they didn't pass with enough room for their cargo to properly clear me. Once again, lack of training and skill rears its ugly head.

DieselDan

The trailer idea is great, just watch out for toll booths and bridge restrictions. With a trailer, you're considered a truck. I had an overzealous Transportation Officer stop me for passing a weigh station with a BBQ pit trailer on an Oldsmobile.