These are the 30 best cars for summer road trips

Matthew DeBord/BI

• When it comes to summer road trips, there are a ridiculous number of vehicle options. 
• We rounded up a variety of wheels, from sporty roadsters to hulking SUVs.
• Many of these vehicles have actually been road tested on actual road trips by BI's crack team of car reviewers.
• So trust us!

Nothing says summer more than a summer road trip. 

Over the next few months, many of us will take to the road, individually, as families, and in festive groups. There will be playlists. There will be stops in strange and exotic places. There will be nights spent in cheap motels. The culmination will be unexplored destinations, beaches, lakefronts, and all manner of additional curiosities.

Clearly, the car matters. My memories of childhood road trips in summertime are as much about a Buick station wagon as as where the family was going 

Fortunately, at Business Insider we drive just about everything from minivans to Rolls-Royces. So we've put together a list of amazing summer road-trip rides, from the basic and utilitarian to the absurdly luxurious. 

I'll be the first to admit that practicality wasn't always our guide. In numerous cases, the hot car won out over the ones that handle simple A-B duty.

So yes, some of these machines will get you to where you're going with more style than luggage space. So be it! 

Read on to see what we recommend.

For straightforward, joyful motoring in the open air, few cars can match the pure spirit of the great roadster of all time, the Mazda Miata MX-5, now in its fourth generation. This is my personal favorite Miata since the first-gen, a car that I owned and took on several road trips. 

Yes, your luggage will be limited. But you wanted to travel light anyway. And yes, you'll be limited to one passenger. But didn't you want only the best company?

If a drop-top coupé Miata is more your speed, the MX-5 RF is just as much fun.

Obviously, we're working through red convertibles here. The EcoBoost Mustang ragtop is tremendous fun and should be available in rental fleets. But don't let that stigma put you off this four-banger — it's all pony car. 

Enough with the red! I took this Avorio (means "ivory") Ferrari cabrio on a jaunt to Lime Rock Park to watch a bit of racing. It's the ultimate cruising vehicle from Maranello — but this horse can do more than prance, powered by a 660-horsepower twin-turbo V8.

The 'Stang has a back seat, sort of. The MINI Cooper S drop-top does a bit better. Four adults could undertake a short journey in relative comfort. I took one of these in a run to Jersey Shore a few summers back and it was brilliant.

See Also:

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• Americans are obsessed with SUVs — these are the ones everyone is buying

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