The Perfect Longboard Car: VW Bug vs. Subaru Outback

Aloha Tribe,

So, I imagine that a lot of you dream of finding the perfect car for your surfing sufaris. And naturally, there are many cool vehicles that fit the bill, after all, we all need and love something different.

For me, I have, as I have mentioned, two cars. One is a new model  VW Bug, bright orange, orange hubcaps, black and orange leather interior and steering wheel, turbo model. She's cute!!! I even have a safari rack I mounted on her roof above the sunroof. It's sort of like a metal cage that sits up there, capable of holding anything and everything.

With  my VW Bug, I can get my 9 foot longboard  (plus a second one if I wanted too) inside of the car. I simply take the headrests off the passenger seat and then fold the passenger seat down and, I also take the headrests off the back bench seat and fold it down too. Then, I simply slide the board in through the trunk, resting the nose of the board on the dashboard of the passenger side, and the tail of the board at the end base of the trunk. Granted, with this setup, I can be the only one in the car, but, that's cool, my friends have cars anyways, and besides, when you're heading out for Dawn Patrol in the dark of night, it's fun to have a caravan of vehicles filled with surfer brahs all following each other for a day of surfing.

There is room in the car, by the way, for pretty much as much camping gear  (plus slacklines and slackropes as well as my NOHO Surf Balance Trainer), as I'll need for even extended trips of several months. As it turns out, I don't need the safari rack on top of the car, but, well, it makes the car look like a true Baja Bug, and, I so love that image.

My other car is a Subaru Outback Sport. She's bright fire engine red. With this car, I also can get my 9 foot longboard (easily with a second 9 foot longboard if I wanted) literally inside of the car, basically doing exactly what I did with the  Bug. I simply fold the front and back passenger side bucket seats down, do not have to remove the headrests, and, still have room for a passenger behind the drivers seat, plus, enough gear for several months of camping also including enough slacklines, slackropes and such to share with anybody who wants to try, and my NOHO Surf Balance Trainer.

So, when there are times that I might want to have your boards safely in your car, either of these vehicles way totally can do this. On the other hand, I always loved the look of my longboard on top of my car, fin forward, adventure to the wind. It presents sort of a cool girl-of-action kind of look that appeals to my spirit and sense of adventure and taste. Besides, in the case of the VW Bug, it's kind of fun to have a surfboard on the roof on top of my safari rack, people who see it seem to love the look.

Oh, while my VW Bug is a turbo model and thus goes faster, my Subaru Outback Sport has All-Wheel Drive thus it can go anywhere, snow mud, ice, sleet, rain, whatevers. And, being a cold weather surfer, surfing in the worst the Pacific Northwest can throw at a girl, such a feature is rather awesome to know that no matter what, I can always make it to the beach regardless of driving conditions.

Either car would be perfect for anybody. It's then simply a matter of style. For me, I love them both. In warm weather, like the Summer, it's my VW Bug for sure, for what could be cooler than that, a bug with a few longboard surfboards and an elephant gun and perhaps a thruster all strapped on top, using, by the way, Baja straps, those are those extra wide, extra thick, extra strong ones with huge strong steel buckles, that, if you''re a Baja girl, you just HAVE to have. And, when the Winter storms rage and the seas rise to near 50 foot like they did a week ago, how are you doing to see me get to my surfing break out in the wilds, well, in my Subaru Outback, but of course, for she WILL get me there for those epic waves when it really counts.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley