Detour #272: Florida Car Culture, USA
From the awesome oval at Daytona to the Art Deco excess of Miami Florida is a must-visit destination for any auto enthusiast.
The great American road trip. A dream bordering on a cliché, yet a bucket list item for most of us who love driving nonetheless. With 50 states there’s an overwhelming scope of possibility, though most idle daydreams surely settle on either the Pacific Coast Highway and its almost ethereally beautiful scenery or a blast through endless desert, top down to the soundtrack of eight rumbling cylinders as life passes by in a blurry haze.
But adventure lies wherever you go looking for it, and a journey from the historical Daytona banking to the edgy car culture of Miami might prove just as interesting. So long as you don’t mind toll booths and traffic…
The fun simply must start at Daytona International Speedway. Bag a window seat as you fly into Orlando and not only can you see NASA’s sprawling Kennedy complex – including several launch pads and, if the stars truly align, a live rocket heading to space – but you ought to circle over Daytona’s dramatic oval and snickety in-circuit, too.
Hop in your hire car – if you’re as lucky as us, it’s a dinky Toyota GR86 – and head for a tour of the track to combat any jet lag. The Motorsports Hall of Fame museum is also fabulous and sits adjacent to plentiful drive-thru food (in lieu of visiting the now sadly-defunct Ace Cafe Orlando upon landing…)
Timing the trip with a race event comes even more recommended, yet there’s something truly awe-inspiring about poking around racetracks when they’re empty, especially in the US where their vast, foreboding banking echoes a thousand anecdotes back at you. Daytona’s history is as ripe as anyone’s.
Linger awhile and there are gorgeous beaches while Kennedy Space Center is an essential visit for all of us who adore engineering. And be sure to check its launch schedule beforehand. Space travel is relatively busy and a few days in Florida can easily coincide with supplies being sent to the sky via a cone of flame and a heart-shaking roar… and the scarcely believable gap between the two to demonstrate the differing speeds of light and sound like nothing else.
What’s harder to come by is a decent corner, which should be a crying shame in a welterweight GR86. But there’s joy in sneaking through the Suburbans and Tahoes, the anti-snobbery of delighting in how puny they perceive your transport as you’re slung low to the floor operating one of the few stick-shift sports cars still available at a reasonable price. The little boxer coupe also serves up a fun game of hide ‘n’ seek amongst all the SUVs and trucks in the Walmart. I’m getting my kicks in a different way on this trip…
Plug Miami into the nav and you’ll be shown a 250-mile wiggle down the I-95. Settle into Interstate life and you’ll learn new rules about lane discipline, speed limit variation and – once breaktime calls – just how much cheese can truly be melted into a meal. Ticking off a bingo card of fast-food joints isn’t a recommendation I want to be held accountable for – but sampling local culture is the greatest element of any adventure, right?
Miami stimulates the senses but boy, is it not a driver’s haven. The Toyota rarely nudges third gear until my return to the airport, and yet the endless red lights and honking horns have bred a curiously rich car culture. Supercars abound (and are easily hired) while tuning houses, cutting-edge or otherwise, line many of the industrial blocks. Ambling around, windows down if you can bear the heat, is an experience to behold. While the SoCal car scene boasts more glamour and the epic canyon roads to host it, the grittier streets of southern Florida really ought to be experienced too.
Words Stephen Dobie