The approach of summer is the catalyst that starts thousand of drivers looking for something fun and impractical to enjoy for a few months. And, if you’re anything like us, the imminent arrival of winter kickstarts a very different kind of car hunt. One to find the perfect winter beater, a vehicle that will survive everything nature can throw at it, often so our ‘good’ car can stay toasty in the garage.
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Just as many of those summer car plans won’t go further than daydreaming multiple afternoons away flicking through online classified ads, it doesn’t really matter if you don’t actually need a car specifically for winter. So what would you get?
Option 1: The prepper’s SUV
Where I’m based in the south west of the UK, it almost never snows, rarely gets icy and, although we get lots of rain, the chance of flooding is remote. My Honda CR-V will cope just fine. But in the back of my mind there’s something telling me that I absolutely need a lifted 4×4 on hardcore winter rubber with a snorkel and winch. Or maybe a Rezvani.
Option 2: The trusty, rusty wagon
Some people who run a hack over winter don’t necessarily need the ability to drive across the Arctic. They just want something they can use so they don’t have to subject a car they really care about to snow and salt. And they won’t feel too bad if the neighbor comes sliding down the street backward and puts a crease in the back quarter. An old Subaru or Volvo wagon is a good place to start, though this tank of a 240 that sold recently on Bring a Trailer for $7k is too nice to subject to a Michigan winter.
Option 3: The ex-rally car
Surely a rally car is the ultimate winter beater? They’re designed to handle almost any road surface in any weather and come with full cages and harnesses so you probably won’t get hurt if you overcook it on the way to work and end up on your roof.
And if you do you can be sure there’ll be plenty of other drivers happy to leap to your defense and flip the thing back onto its wheels thinking they’ve saved your stage time. With Petter Solberg at the wheel, this Impreza earned Subaru its last ever WRC win and is up for sale on Racemarket for offers over €400,000 ($432k). Cheaper rally cars are, of course, also available.
Option 4: The luxo barge
You might have heard the saying “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing choices,” or something along those lines. And you could apply the same thinking to cars. Most modern cars do a great job of isolating us from bad weather, but if your daily driver is older or just more raw, maybe a stripped-out car that’s great on summer track days, then a fully-loaded well-used luxury car with every convenience might be a cosseting novelty for a few months. This 2001 Mercedes S430 is $4,995 at Texas Drive in Dallas, where I don’t imagine there’s much call for winter beaters.
What’s your ideal winter hack? Or is your modern car or SUV so good it works year-round? Leave a comment and let us know.