Volvo wagons
had a 1992 740 wagon, now a newer XC70… Nice long roof… Low enough to load from the side without standing on something. Carry multiple boats at a time, including 24’ double surfski. (never use bow/stern tie downs with my racing boats.)
Wouldn’t use anything else.
That’s a pretty open question!
– Last Updated: Sep-17-10 2:00 PM EST –
You'll get lots of suggestions.
If I were searching for a kayak-hauler with a fairly low roofline, I'd go for a station wagon. It would provide enough flat roof length to give you decent crossbar spread, and the roof ending at the rear of the vehicle would make for easier loading than with a trunked car.
I like trucks with caps for other reasons (and I use a trailer), but their rooves are pretty tall.
The good part is that manufacturers are actually making station wagons again. They had almost disappeared when SUVs became so popular.
If you want something very unusual, maybe a used hearse would do the trick!
Well, I do miss the Jeep
Short wheelbase, 4WD, best visibility of anything I’ve driven…a nice stock 4-wheeler that didn’t need mods to drive moderate trails.
But I would not recommend it as a kayak hauler (unless you trailer). It’s noisy and a bit wiggly in strong wind. I can’t imagine driving it with a sea kayak on the roof.
And then there’s that Chrysler repair record thing. No, I don’t miss that.
Q500x
Should be 500x … Hit wrong keys on an onscreen keyboard.
I haven’t figured out…
…a legal use for that refrigerated glovebox yet. It works really well, though.
Very happy with my ET. So are my boats.
Thanks!
I’ll pass on the hearse idea though!
Toyota FJ Cruiser and 2 Hullavators!
That would be perfect… you can hose out the back when you’re done!
cars for kayaks
I second or third the the choice or Volvo station wagons with factory installed Eurorails that allow a long spacing between saddles for longer kayaks, tandems and surfskiis. I owned an 850 and later a V70 Volvo wagon and they cruised at 80 with no problem.
I switched to Diesel VW wagons with Eurorails later because Volvo no longer offers the larger wagons in non turbo engines in the US. My current VW TDI Jetta ( diesel with turbo) sportwagen got 35 mpg with a 20 tandem kayak on it on our last trip from Daytona to Key West and all around the Keys ( about 1000 miles) which is better than the Volvos, but the Volvos were a more solid car.